Isle of Wight ferry firm Wightlink insists there has been 'no change' in its procedures allowing ambulances to travel on its ships, amid what it calls 'misleading' claims made on social media.

An anonymous post shared in the Wightlink Users' Group Facebook page suggested the company had stopped 'holding' spaces for ambulances on board ferries.

It claimed that ambulances would have to book by 'normal means', just like regular customers.

This led to concerns over what would happen should an emergency happen and an ambulance need to board as a priority.

However, Wightlink insists this is not the case and its policy has not changed.

A spokesperson said: "Wightlink work closely with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust Ambulance Service and has an efficient process in place for booking emergency transfers off the Island. The same applies to ambulances that need to get back to the Island for an emergency.

"We hold additional spaces during the summer months on peak sailings so we can accommodate blue light ambulances at the time of high demand.

"We are aware of the misleading statements about ambulances travelling on our ferries. Our procedure has not changed."

The County Press has contacted the Isle of Wight NHS Trust for a comment.

UPDATE: A trust spokesperson said: “The Isle of Wight Ambulance Service does not follow the same process as everyone else when booking emergency ambulance transfers.

"We have a process set up so our patients are given priority however we recognise there are always improvements to be made.

"We work closely with Wightlink and all other cross-Solent transport services to ensure that our patients are safely transferred to the mainland in the shortest possible time."