Hovercraft suspended

Hovertravel craft had to stop running from Southsea to Ryde for a couple of hours because of the ‘sea state’.

A company spokesperson said: ‘We suspended our service for safety reasons. We appreciate that there was some disbelief as it [was] a warm spring day with blue sky and sunshine.

‘Our highly-trained and experienced pilots have the responsibility for whether the conditions are safe for our operation and they have told us that the sea state in the main shipping channel of the Solent [was] in excess of the operating limits of both craft, generated by wind over tide conditions.’