ONE person has been injured in a fire onboard a ferry in the Solent.

A fire had broken out in the engine room, according to a spokeswoman for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.

She said one person had been hurt, and the casualty was in the care of the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service.

It is not known if passengers were evacuated from the Wightlink car ferry.

Five fire engines from Newport, Cowes and the West Wight were called to the scene, at Wightlink's Yarmouth terminal, shortly after 10pm on Tuesday, together with rescue support vehicles.

One man, a Wightlink crew member aged in his 50s, has been admitted to the Emergency Department at St Mary's Hospital with burns to his face, head, neck and hands.

A spokeswoman for the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service said he had been wearing protective clothing and his injuries were not believed to be serious.

Firefighters left the scene at 11.19pm. A spokesman said oil had ignited in the engine, causing the fire, but confirmed there had been no explosion.

The injured man was discharged from hospital last night and several Wightlink sailings have been cancelled this morning.

A Wightlink spokeswoman said: "A fire broke out on board Wightlink’s 9pm sailing from Lymington to Yarmouth on Tuesday, September 12, beneath the car deck, as the ship approached the Isle of Wight.

"Emergency services attended the ferry Wight Sky on its arrival at Yarmouth, one crew member was taken to hospital in Newport and has now been discharged.

"On arrival, all passengers disembarked safely from the ferry in Yarmouth with their vehicles.

"A full investigation is underway and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch has been informed.

"Early morning sailings on the Lymington-Yarmouth route on Wednesday, September 13, have been cancelled and customers transferred to Wightlink’s Portsmouth-Fishbourne service.

"This affects the 5.35am, 6.40pm and 7.45am sailings from Lymington and the 6.25am, 7.50am and 8.50am from Yarmouth."

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “The ferry was at dock in Yarmouth so it wasn’t en route.

"There was a small fire in the engine room. One crew member sustained burns and was taken to hospital by land ambulance.

"The Yarmouth RNLI was placed at standby and all passengers got off and the vehicles were removed.”