THE imminent loss of Poole’s cross Channel freight ferry is “extremely disappointing” says a businessman whose company uses the service weekly.

“We send trucks to Spain and France every week,” said David Trenchard of removal company Britannia Leatherbarrows, whose head office is at Bournemouth International Airport.

Brittany Ferries has announced the Cotentin is to be withdrawn from Poole at the end of September, from where it sails routes to France and Spain. The company said it took the decision due to a downturn in its freight business and is unable to say if it is permanent.

Mr Trenchard said the drivers found it helpful to have a shorter drive, rather than having to trek from Portsmouth. With a limit to the numbers of hours they can drive, this often meant they could get home for weekends.

However he contrasted the “beautiful” road network across the Channel with that of Poole, and said that may have had a bearing on the withdrawal of the Cotentin. “You come from Poole and you can’t get anywhere,” he said.

Peter Scott, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “It is acknowledged that Dorset’s road network still needs further improvement but ironically any withdrawal of ferry services may serve to slow rather than hasten such improvements, both in the vicinity of the port and across the county.

“This type of conundrum is being addressed by the economic development element of the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership. The good news for Poole is that Brittany Ferries have on several occasions expressed their great satisfaction with the service provided by the Port of Poole and my understanding is that their decisions were prompted purely by the commercial realities which the ferry sector are currently facing.”