OWNERS of the cross-Solent ferry company Red Funnel are considering selling it for £200m.

The Daily Echo understands that the possible sale would not affect the 400 staff.

The company, which is part-owned by the banking organisation HBOS, would be sold as a on-going concern.

Red Funnel was the original ferry operator to the Isle of Wight and has been operating from Southampton to Cowes since 1861.

Managing director Tom Docherty confirmed that bankers NM Rothschild and Sons had been engaged to look at options for a possible sale.

He said: "We've no changes planned in the senior management team or in our on-going commitment to provide a pre-eminent cross-Solent ferry service. It's very much business as usual."

Earlier this month commuters who use the service called for an inquiry into the inflation-busting costs of ferry travel between Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

The group Ferry Passengers for a Fair Deal are demanding that the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading investigate the costs of the Solent crossing, which they say is one of the most expensive in the British Isles.

The group points out that since 2004 the prices charged by Red Funnel and rival Wightlink for extended return tickets and season tickets have both gone up by between two and three times the rate of inflation.