P&O has been questioned by some passengers for making a ferry crossing in "extreme weather conditions" after six lorries toppled over and cars were crushed prompting an emergency at a Scottish port.

Some passengers have criticised the decision to set sail from Larne in Northern Ireland for Scotland at 4am after it emerged rivals StenaLink had decided to cancel their cross-Irish Sea crossing just half an hour earlier.

The StenaLine said the 3.30am crossing from Belfast had been cancelled due to "adverse weather".

P&O now face multiple compensation claims after lorries overturned on an upper deck of the ferry sailing into Cairnryan, Dumfries and Galloway in high winds, crushing cars on-board and prompting a major emergency response.

It left some passengers left trapped in their vehicles due to the damage caused.

But P&O said that all 52 passengers and 56 crew were safely accounted for and no injuries were reported.

Police Scotland said during a "choppy sailing" movement of vehicles on the car deck caused around six vehicles to tip over onto their side.

Passengers were confined to vehicles and the ferry for hours as emergency services sought to deal with the incident.

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Just two hours earlier, a 16,000-tonne Russian cargo ship became stranded off a beach in Falmouth, Cornwall, as it was lashed by winds of up to 74mph.

Some have suggested P&O will end up with claims for compensation through the damage to vehicles and ruined fresh food cargo that was on its way to Scotland.

Dave Thorpe, a lorry driver with Lurgan-based Morgan McLernon carrying perishable goods for delivery around Scotland, who had been stuck for hours on the ferry after what he described as a "bumpy crossing" questioned why "Stena cancelled but P&O sailed with a full boat".

He said: "Questions will be asked and lots of compensation to be paid. "There's squashed cars, overturned trucks and our company has eight trucks on here with perishable goods, all yoghurts, fruit and vegetables and all that kind of the stuff. My deliveries were to Iceland in Livingston, Asda in Falkirk, Morrisons in Bellshill and Sainsbury in East Kilbride.

Mr Thorpe, who said someone would have to pay for missed deliveries added: "It's a mess here. There's at least three toppled over.

Lorry driver Dave Thorpe predicts "a bumpy crossing" as he is about to board the Larne to Cairnryan P&O ferry.

"I'm just looking out my window and I can see one of the squashed vans and they have found a live chicken in it, it had gone into the back of the van.

"They have one of the lorries that was leaning on top of the car and have three cars off that were damaged."

"If I was on the deck, I would have been able to touch the water it leaned that bad.

"I don't know if there's any damage to my truck yet as they won't let us on the car deck. Must me some damage, at least it will have slid sideways in to another truck!"

Fellow lorry driver Niall Mcerlean said "all the wrecking took place" about halfway through the journey and later said: "I'm okay, I am glad to be off it."

Asked if he thought the ferry was going to topple over, Mr Mcerlean said: "We thought she was away at that time.

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"It happened that quick that people didn't know what was taking place and everybody was nervous and afraid if we were going on over.

"There was a lot of panic going on."

He added: "I don't know why P&O sailed last night because it was giving out for a storm.

"Maybe they shouldn't have sailed."

Belfast Coastguard said: "It is down to the Master [of the ferry] to make the decision. We issue a weather forecast, they will listen to it and then they make the decision. We would not tell anyone whether or not to sail. "The ferries have been out in a lot worse than what they were out in this morning."

P&O said: “P&O Ferries employs Masters and bridge management teams who have significant experience operating in the Irish Sea. The Masters and their bridge management team considered all available weather information prior to making the decision to safely sail, which included the specific wind, weather and tidal conditions at the Port of Larne, Port of Cairnryan and the routing in between these ports.”

The Herald:

The company said in a statement that an incident had taken place on one of its vessels, the European Causeway.

"In extreme weather conditions, a number of vehicles have moved position on the decks causing damage onboard," it said.

"All passengers and crew are safely accounted for, there are no reports of injuries and the emergency services are in attendance."

Police Scotland said it had been called out after reports of a "number of vehicles" having overturned on the ferry.

Chief Inspector Stephen Stiff said: "Emergency services were on the scene very quickly and as the ferry docked into Cairnryan staff were able to board the ferry and start making sure all passengers and crew were safe and well.

"Thankfully there have been very minor injuries only to a handful of passengers - there have been no significant injuries at all which is a blessing.

"Beyond that there will now be a recovery operation by the emergency services working together to make sure that the vehicles that have overturned on the decks can be righted and taken off in a proper and controlled fashion."