Red Funnel has apologised after a technical fault with one of its ferries brought traffic chaos to East Cowes.

One councillor described the scene as "purgatory" while traffic tailbacks were so bad that at one stage British Red Cross volunteers were mobilised to provide refreshments for stranded motorists.

Now police are to organise a meeting with local councillors and Red Funnel to discuss what went wrong.

The trouble was caused when a ship was withdrawn from service, leaving the other two unable to cope with the volume of traffic.

Town mayor Councillor Margaret Webster said: "I felt sorry for all the families stuck in their cars but at the same time embarrassed that this was happening in East Cowes.

"I walked down the queue and apologised to people who were obviously very frustrated by the delays."

Isle of Wight councillor Muriel Miler said: "It was purgatory as it was and I shudder to think what it would have been like had it happened on a bank holiday."

Red Funnel said the problems could have been reduced had an on-going planning wrangle over the creation of overflow space at Whippingham been resolved.

Operations director Tom Docherty said: "Over the past year we have been working closely with the Isle of Wight Council on a number of proposals aimed at reducing traffic congestion in East Cowes.

"However, the company is disappointed that its application has not been resolved and has been an outstanding matter since last September.

"The situation on Saturday would have been much improved had Red Funnel had access to additional space for traffic on the Island. We apologise to all those passengers and local residents that were affected."