AN ENGINEER has been arrested just as the ferry he works on was about to set sail for Southampton.

Police officers arrived at the Red Funnel ferry in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, to arrest the male engineer.

In a statement Hampshire police said: “We can confirm we arrested a man in relation to a domestic incident.

“There is no risk to the public.”

A spokesperson for Red Funnel said: “Red Funnel can confirm that an engineer on the 12pm sailing from East Cowes was arrested by police before the vessel was due to sail.

“The company received no prior notification of the arrest and as such customers on this sailing were delayed by up to 60 minutes before the vessel was cleared to sail.

"This also had a knock-on-effect by delaying the 12pm sailing from Southampton by 30 minutes.

“Red Funnel would like to apologise to customers who were delayed and inconvenienced by this incident.”