New ferry route starts from Dover

LD Lines currently operates from Newhaven and Portsmouth

A new ferry route to France from Kent's main passenger port is to be introduced early next year.

The once-a-day return service from Dover to Dieppe, Normandy will be operated by French firm LD Lines and start on 2 February.

The vessel will hold up to 52 trucks, 300 cars and 600 passengers.

The company also plans to introduce a service on SpeedFerries' Dover-Boulogne route from 1 July with seven daily low-cost crossings.

A company statement said: "The competitive pricing has been structured to appeal to clients who would traditionally prefer to use Dover as their departure port but whose destination is the west and south west of France."

Low-cost crossings

The crossing will take four hours and 15 minutes each way.

LD Lines is a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs Group, a maritime transport company since 1904, which has a fleet of more than 60 ships operating worldwide.

It currently operates crossings between Portsmouth and Le Havre, Newhaven and Le Havre and Newhaven and Dieppe.

SpeedFerries stopped operating between Dover and Boulogne earlier this month when its vessel was seized by customs officials.

The company went into administration earlier this month and its closure was announced on Tuesday.