VANDALS who cut a ferry loose and left it drifting across Southampton Water in some of Britain's busiest shipping lanes have been branded as "mindless criminals".

The 59ft Hythe ferry Hotspur IV was spotted unlit being blown towards Weston Shore. Southampton, by a brisk south-westerly wind on a rising tide in the early hours of Saturday.

Fortunately, the Hotspur IV was the only ferry set adrift, but attempts had been made to cut the service's bigger boat Great Expectations from the Hythe Pier pontoon as well. Those attempts were foiled by a steel chain and heavy duty padlock

"It was a horrendous thing to do when you imagine that channel with all the ships coming and going.

"If she'd been hit and gone down in the main channel it could have brought the port to a standstill," said skipper Sath Naidoo, who was called out to take the ferry back to Hythe.

She was spotted by the crew of the dredger Arco Dart who alerted the VTS (Vessel Traffic Systems) staff in Southampton Docks and port operator ABP sent out a patrol boat to intercept the ferry before it either hit another craft or ran aground.

The Hotspur IV was then towed into Southampton's Empress Dock before crew from Hythe went to the port and took her back to the pier under her own power and undamaged, apart from the damage to more than £200 worth of rope.

She returned to service for the busy Saints' football run late on Saturday afternoon to take returning fans back to the Waterside from Ocean Village in Southampton after the FA Cup tie with Millwall.

The Hotspur IV, at 54 years old, is one of the oldest passenger craft still in service. She weighs 50 tonnes and carried 127 passengers and crew.

As a police investigation got under way, Hythe's Hampshire County Councillor Brian Dash appealed for anyone with information to contact Hythe Police Station on 0845 045 45 45.

He said: "It is mindless, criminal vandalism, almost beyond belief. If anybody does know anything about who did this they will be doing the community a service by contacting the police."