Hayling Ferry passengers stranded after Eastney landing

The Pride of Hayling moored at the Eastney pontoon, looking across Langstone Harbour towards Hayling Island

9 September 2026

Passengers waiting at Ferry Point on Hayling Island on Sunday 6 September could not cross to Portsmouth. Border Force had taken over the Eastney pontoon, the berth used by the Hayling Ferry, after two RNLI lifeboats brought about 120 people ashore from a dinghy intercepted off the Isle of Wight.

The ferry is a foot and cycle service across the mouth of Langstone Harbour. The crossing takes a few minutes. Anyone who misses it faces about 15 miles by road. On Sunday the Pride of Hayling had no Portsmouth landing to use, and people already on the island had no simple way back.

The blue and white Pride of Hayling passenger ferry under way with walkers on deck — The Pride of Hayling on the crossing between Ferry Point and Eastney

The dinghy had left the French coast near Cherbourg, further west than the crossings that usually end near Dover. Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Port had already refused the overloaded lifeboats, so Eastney was used instead.

The BBC later published a full account of that crossing and the night that followed.

Hayling Ferry said it supports the RNLI without reservation and that the Bembridge and Yarmouth crews were doing the work they are asked to do. The operator’s complaint is that Border Force took the berth without notice. Passengers were left at Ferry Point for hours.

Eastney sits on a narrow spit with a single road, Ferry Road, which also serves the RNLI station and the marina. Portsmouth council leader Steve Pitt said the council had not been consulted and called Eastney “a completely unsuitable location to bring the boats ashore”. Langstone Harbour Master Billy Johnson said a search and rescue landing could be accepted there, but that managing a crowd on that peninsula was another matter.

By evening about 200 people had gathered on Ferry Road. Vehicles belonging to the police, the Coastguard and Border Force were damaged, and seven officers were treated at the scene. The landing and the marina remained closed. Coaches taking those who had come ashore did not leave until about 4am on Monday, by which time the Sunday ferry service was over.