Isle of Wight ferry firm Red Funnel has announced there will be fewer late night crossings on its Red Jet service from the New Year.

The company said the decision has been made due to a "reduction in demand".

Currently, from Southampton, there are five sailings between 6.30pm and 11.10pm.

From January 3, that will be reduced to four sailings, from 6.30pm, with the final one of the day being at 10.30pm.

From Cowes, the number of late evening crossings will also go from five to four. The first will stay the same at 7.05pm but the last will now be at 11.05pm, instead of 11.45pm.

The last four crossings in each direction will be as follows:

Southampton to Cowes

  • Departing at: 18.30, 19.40, 21.05, 22.30

Cowes to Southampton

  • Departing at: 19.05, 20.15, 21.40, 23.05

Leanna Lakes, Operations Director at Red Funnel, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience these adjustments to Red Jet timetable may cause.

"The updates are due to a reduction in demand, which has dropped off substantially since 2019.

"We will continue to monitor passenger numbers travelling on all services and make timetable adjustments as necessary.”

Red Funnel said there are later sailings on its car ferry service and it will also adjust timetables on Southampton FC match days.

The operator’s Christmas timetable comes into effect shortly, running from December 19 to January 2.

Its new timetable comes in to place on January 3.