CONDOR ferry staff and passengers have celebrated a milestone 25 years of Channel Islands sailings.

They marked their quarter century in Poole Harbour yesterday, as the ferry Condor Vitesse travelled back to port flanked by harbour tugs and a water cannon display.

Onboard was special guest Captain Michael Dumont, who skippered the first Condor Ferry cross-channel service back in the 1980s.

Condor’s first cross-channel passenger service left Weymouth for the Channel Islands in 1987, the year southern England was battered by a hurricane.

Since then more than 12 million passengers and 2.2million cars have made the same voyage.

This anniversary comes just one week after Condor bosses confirmed cross-Channel sailings would take place from Poole Harbour until at least November.

The fast service to the Channel Islands and St Malo, France, are operating from the port after it emerged the company’s Wey-mouth berth needed serious repairs last month.

Condor sales and marketing director Alicia Andrews said: “We’re delighted to be marking this important anniversary this month.

“We are proud to have been providing residents and visitors to the local area and the Channel Islands with this service for a quarter of a century.

“We would like to thank our customers and staff for their tremendous support over the last 25 years.

“We continue to work hard to improve our services and are looking forward to the next 25 years with great enthusiasm.”

Staff member Ian Milner, who currently works as Condor’s Guernsey director, recalled his most memorable moment was when the vessel Condor 10 arrived in 1991.

“This was the first time we had carried cars across to the Channel Islands,” he said.

“It was a project I managed for two years.”

Condor Vitesse sailed into Poole on schedule accompanied by three harbour tugs.

At Sandbanks, spectators watched the ferry enter the harbour with one tug saluting 25 years by firing its water cannon into the air.

Drivers seemed happy with the short wait as the Vitesse passed.

Cameron Murray, of Poole, said: “She does look good in the sunlight doesn’t she?

“Well done to the company for the past 25 years and good luck to everyone who sails in her for the future.”

Million passengers each year

• CONDOR employs more than 650 people and has raised around £1.5million in sponsorship for UK and Channel Island charities and organisations.

• DOZENS of unusual consignments have been transported between the UK and the Channel Islands. These include an adult male gorilla, a colony of penguins, a life-size model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a full-sized working replica of a Second World War tank.

•MOTOR racing legend Nigel Mansell, actor Martin Clunes, Jimmy Savile and the Teletubbies are among the famous faces to have used the service over the years.

•MORE than one million passengers and 200,000 passenger vehicles are transported each year.