Trawler blockade will hit Channel travellers

French trawlermen are gathering to blockade the port of Calais, threatening to ruin the plans of thousands of travellers.

Most passenger sailings from Dover to the French port will be cancelled during the morning, operators said.

The flotilla of fishing vessels is gathering in Boulogne to protest against European Commission proposals to cut fishing quotas for cod by 80% which they say will cripple the industry.

Demonstrators from around Britain's North Sea ports joining the protest are meeting at the mouth of the River Tyne.

Fishermen from Ireland, Denmark, Britain, Holland and Belgium are taking part in the action at several Continental ports ahead of a Council of Ministers meeting next week.

They fear the EC plans to cut fishing quotas in a bid to rebuild cod and hake stocks in the North Sea will decimate the fishing industry.