DOZENS of people were stranded on a high-speed ferry which suffered a malfunction after leaving Southampton.

Red Funnel services are running on an altered timetable after the high-speed Red Jet left the city at 8.45am but suffered a hydraulics failure shortly after.

It drifted near Town Quay for almost two hours, but was able to return to port after engineers fixed the malfunction.

A spokesman for Red Funnel said: "Red Funnel regrets that due to a technical issue with Red Jet 5, which has coincided with the annual dry docking of Red Jet 3, the Southampton to West Cowes Red Jet service will operate hourly until further notice.

"Additional passenger sailings using a chartered vessel have been arranged.

"A revised timetable for the rest of today and tomorrow will be online at redfunnel.co.uk within the hour. 

"Red Funnel apologises for the inconvenience this has caused and engineers are working as fast as possible to get Red Jet 5 back in service."

One of the 26 passengers on board, Trisha Coundley, was travelling with her grandchildren Tom, 11, and Abby, nine, to Cowes.

She said: “We were only just outside Town Quay and the engines broke down, so we had to turn around.“We were making our way back but the tide and weather conditions have stopped us coming back in.

“We're just drifting. It's frustrating, the worst thing is there are no loos on board.

“The cabin crew couldn't have done any more for us though.

“There are a few professional people going to meetings or on courses so it is going to inconvenience them.”

The malfunction has meant the 9.45am service from West Cowes to Southampton has been cancelled.

A spokesman for Red Funnel said services would return to normal from Southampton at 10.45am, with the next one from West Cowes at 11.15am.

Passengers on board the stranded ferry will be refunded.