CONDOR ferry staff and passengers have celebrated a milestone 25 years of Channel Islands sailings.

They marked their quarter century yesterday, as the ferry Condor Vitesse travelled back to Poole flanked by harbour tugs and a water cannon display.

Onboard was special guest Captain Michael Dumont, who skippered the first Condor Ferry cross-channel service back in the 1980s.

Condor’s first cross-channel passenger service left Weymouth for the Channel Islands in 1987, the year southern England was battered by a hurricane.

Since then more than 12 million passengers and 2.2 million cars have made the same voyage.

This anniversary comes just one week after Condor bosses confirmed cross-Channel sailings would take place from Poole Harbour until at least November.