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New ferry services from Dover to Boulogne and Dieppe have started operating.

Launched by LD Lines, there will be two return trips to Boulogne and one to Dieppe every day, using the Transmanche ferry Cote d'Albatre.

Delays involving a pilot boarding the ship outside Boulogne Harbour resulted in the ship berthing more than an hour late at the French port at the end of the inaugural crossing on Thursday - but the company is confident this was just a teething problem and the service will run on time in future.

Francis Leroy, president of the Boulogne Chamber of Commerce, said it was an important day for the town.

He said: "We have been waiting 14 years for this. It is that long since a conventional ferry, carrying tourist and freight traffic, operated from our port. We are very pleased to welcome LD Lines."

Foot passengers are currently unable to use the ship because there are no check-in facilities for them at Dover.

The company's director general, Christophe Santani, said the facilities would be in operation by July, when a second ship is due to join the service, if not earlier.

It is the first time Dover has had a link with Dieppe.

Twenty new jobs have been created at Dover, many of them taken by former SpeedFerries employees.

When the service is expanded in the summer there could be up to another 80 jobs on offer.

The new operation has also been welcomed by Dover Harbour Board chief executive Bob Goldfield.

He said: "We know from our own research that one of the real benefits of a ferry crossing to a haulier is the break it gives the driver.

"We are delighted to see ferry operators investing, yet again, in services through the Port of Dover, underlining the acute need for the planned second ferry terminal."