A FERRY passenger had to be rescued from the Solent after jumping off a Red Funnel ferry sailing from the Isle of Wight to Southampton.

The man took a life jacket and jumped from the Red Falcon as it left Cowes, only to be quickly picked up by sister ship the Red Osprey as it was arriving at the Island.

A spokesman from Red Funnel said the company had no idea why the man jumped and praised the actions of its crew.

She said: "Red Funnel would like to praise the Master of Red Osprey and his crew for their vigilance and quick actions in rescuing a person from the sea outside Cowes.

"The male, who was fully clothed and wearing a life jacket, was plucked from the water using the ship's rescue boat and taken ashore before being transferred to a waiting ambulance."

The passenger had boarded the Red Falcon which left Cowes Harbour at 7.30pm on Sunday.

About 15 minutes later he was pulled out of the water by the crew of Red Osprey which left Southampton at 7pm and was due to arrive in East Cowes at 8pm.

When the Red Falcon arrived in Southampton at 8.30pm, staff found a number of the passenger's belongings which he had left onboard.

The spokesman said that the incident did not cause any disruption to Red Funnel's operations.

A spokesman for Solent Coastguard said they had been alerted to the incident and had a helicopter crew on standby, but it was not needed.