RIVAL cross-Channel operators have angrily denied accusations by a Dover-Boulogne fast ferry company that they are operating a cartel and “dirty tricks war” to force it out of business.

SpeedFerries.com, the new low-cost operator that launched its service a couple of months ago, is complaining to the Office of Fair Trading and the European Commission about the alleged actions of rivals.

Curt Stavis, founder of SpeedFerries, has instructed company lawyers to file a complaint about alleged unfair competition. The complaint will focus on alleged co-ordinated pricing and interavailability agreements. He claims that other operators are waging a “dirty tricks war".

In a statement, the company said it was “investigating possible legal action against a number of competitors for a variety of actions in, what the company claims to be, an ongoing dirty tricks war against the new Dover-Boulogne fast ferry service".

It added that as a result of its experience with the industry it had decided on a “policy of avoidance with competition. Accordingly, the company will stay out of all the clubs and organisations within the industry, an industry which includes companies SpeedFerries views to be of questionable ethics."

It alleges “identical price systems” and “what appears to be co-ordinated responses in denying interavailability agreements,” “unjustified legal actions,” and “harrassment".

But rivals have reacted angrily to the accusations. Hoverspeed said it categorically denied that there was any form of cartel run by cross-Channel ferry operators in order to “fix” pricing on fares, schedules or any other aspect of service.

“Hoverspeed -- as a long established and highly-respected cross-Channel ferry operator -- has long championed the need for ferry companies to offer clear and transparent pricing for all customers using their services,” it said.

P&O Ferries also denied any wrongdoing, saying that the industry was already under investigation by the European Commission for alleged price-fixing, which it also denies.

Russ Peters, chief executive, said: “P&O Ferries totally refutes any such allegations. The cross-Channel ferry market is more competitive market now than it has ever been. Our interest is in making sure that our customres get the best deals for the price available.

“We offer a high quality product but we will inevitably adjust our prices according to the market.”