A passenger ferry which was taken out of service after it was deemed unsafe by MCA inspectors in November has begun running again.

The Pride of Hayling, which travels between Portsmouth and
Hayling Island, was again inspected by coastguards a week later but
failed a second check.

Life-jackets were defective and staff members were not “able to cope” with a set of emergency scenarios put to them – but the issues have been resolved and the ferry has been given the all clear.

A third inspection by The Maritime and Coastguard Agency
(MCA) was carried out on Thursday.

The Hayling Island ferry is used by 70 children to get to school each day and a service has been running for over 200 years.