Another protest against the mass sackings of P&O seafaring staff has taken place in Dover today.

Large numbers joined the march through the town following the ferry firm's decision to axe 800 jobs.

They have since been replaced by staff who are being paid just £5.15 an hour. P&O has insisted without taking such drastic action the firm would not be able to stay afloat - despite admitting it broke the law by not consulting over the redundancies.

A number of protests have already been staged in the town, while talks between the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and P&O bosses held yesterday broke down after just 20 minutes.

It prompted RMT general secretary Mick Lynch to say: “From the outset the full obnoxiousness and hostility of the company towards their staff and the RMT was on display.

“P&O were not prepared to listen to any scenario or develop any idea that would provide a means to create a solution to the current disastrous situation."

Ferries serving the Dover to Calais route remain out of action.

Overnight, a ship operated by P&O Ferries has been detained in the Northern Ireland port of Larne for being “unfit to sail”.

The European Causeway vessel has been held due to “failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training”, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.

The ferry normally operates between Northern Ireland and the Scottish port of Cairnryan.

Today's protest in Dover started at noon from the RMT union base at Snargate Street.

Crowds carried banners and placards calling for an end to the “P&O jobs carve up”.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) tweeted a video they said showed P&O dockers in Rotterdam refusing to load freight onto a ferry set for Hull “in solidarity with the 800 seafarers illegally sacked by P&O”.

Meanwhile, Irish trade union workers gathered at Dublin Port outside the P&O terminal to send support from across the Irish Sea to P&O staff.

The rally, organised by trade union Siptu, was attended by the new Irish Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, and organiser Jim McVeigh told the PA news agency that the rally was intended to “send solidarity”.

He added: “The best thing we could do was to have a rally at Dublin Port outside P&O so they know our concerns.”

Labour has written to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asking whether the Government will seek the removal of P&O Ferries’ chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite as a director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.

In a letter, the party accused the Government of “sitting on their hands” rather than taking action to hold P&O to account, adding that the “toothless response risks giving the green light to exploitation”.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the “shameful misconduct of P&O Ferries has ruined livelihoods” as she called for the sacked workers to be reinstated and for Mr Hebblethwaite to be “barred” as a director for his role in the crisis.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed Mr Shapps’ call for Mr Hebblethwaite to quit.