IT'S BUSINESS as usual for the Weymouth ferry operator Condor - despite the news that its rival P&O is cutting four out of its 13 ferry routes elsewhere.

Operations manager Stuart Williams said the cross-Channel service would be staying in Dorset with no change to planned activity next year.

His pledge came after rival carrier P&O announced it was scrapping four ferry routes and 1,200 jobs, and figures showed a 12 per cent drop in passengers using Condor in Weymouth.

P&O has blamed cut-price airlines, the Channel Tunnel and the loss of duty free goods in 1999 on dwindling passenger numbers, and will no longer operate a French service from Portsmouth.

Weymouth is one of six ports offering cross-Channel services to France and the Channel Islands, along with Poole, Dover, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Plymouth.

Mr Williams said it was too early to comment on the effect of the P&O route closures but he was planning to operate the same schedule this year as last.

He said: "Passenger volumes have lowered across the board, but the market does go up and down year to year.

"We have already arranged our schedules for next year and are committed to our Dorset operations - we are expecting to run exactly the same service."

Mr Williams added: "People living in this part of the world who want to take their car across the Channel would not normally drive to Dover.

"We are not looking at any detrimental effect following the P&O decision."

The most recent quarterly figures for Condor passenger numbers, from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, showed a 12 per cent annual decrease in numbers of people travelling to the Channel Islands year on year.

During April to June this year, a total of 69,911 cars and passengers made the journey, down from 79,360 for the same period last year.

Numbers of people travelling to St Malo in France were up by nearly 50 per cent however, going from 4,171 to 6,373. Mr Williams said: "The St Malo operation has been a steady operation for us since it launched in 1964."

A borough council report prepared this year calculated that Condor was worth £7.7 million to the Weymouth and Portland area, including jobs and tourist spend.

The company employs 104 full-time and 255 seasonal staff, worth £4.35 million a year, according to the report.

Director of the industry body Passenger Shipping Association William Gibbons said the ferry business was going through a difficult time, but it was continuing to invest.

He said: "There is increasing competition, loss of duty-free in 1999 and increased taxation on duty paid tobacco goods on the continent.

"It's important to remember that the ferry industry is investing for the future - £1 billion will have been spent between 2000 and 2006 to upgrade facilities, ships and services."

Mr Gibbons added: "The fact that 2005 has been designated Year of the Sea will mark a well-deserved reawakening of interest in travel by sea."