SEVERE delays on Wightlink's Fishbourne to Portsmouth route on Friday were caused by an administrative error — not a technical issue as the company claimed.

The annual survey of the St Clare car ferry had not been completed within the permitted time so the ship had to be withdrawn from service at 12pm.

As the ship was unable to leave Fishbourne port so the two other ferries on the route were left stranded in the Solent.

It caused a backlog of delays, leaving passengers stuck in Portsmouth traffic for up to six hours.

On Friday, Wightlink apologised for the delays and said they were caused by a technical issue with the St Clare.

A representative from Lloyds Register surveyed the vessel on Saturday morning in Portsmouth and the ferry returned to service at 1pm that day.

Keith Greenfield, Wightlink's chief executive, said: "We are extremely sorry for the severe disruption caused to our customers on Friday afternoon by this technical issue.

"We acted swiftly when we realised an error had been made and checks are now in place to ensure this does not happen again."