P&O take two weeks to tell of the Scots hit by brutal sackings

She had indicated to MSPs that the lack of information had a bearing on some support that was able to be given.

The beleaguered firm's has been refusing to state how many Scots-based seafarers are affected until Tuesday when P&O confirmed numbers.

Last Tuesday a P&O spokesman said: "We're just not commenting on geographic breakdown of staff. "

Transport Scotland confirmed on Thursday that it had still not had confirmation on numbers.

The concerns come as P&O decided to fire UK staff on the spot and hire foreign agency workers to replace the sacked staff - with some temps said to be living in tents.

Yesterday morning, P&O's external communications team were not responding to a question on the numbers of Scots affected.

But the P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite finally revealed that 39 people living in Scotland have lost their jobs as he was grilled by MSPs over the ferry company's actions.

He said he had no plans to resign while being described as "most likely the most hated man in Britain".

Boris Johnson has backed calls for Mr Hebblethwaite to quit over the sacking of 800 workers in breach of employment law, backing calls by Grant Shapps, the transport secretary.

Mr Hebblethwaite admitted that the company did not consult with unions when it fired 800 crew without consultation but insisted he would do it again.

He hit back at government calls to reinstate the 800 workers it has sacked, insisting a U-turn would cause the firm's collapse.

He said reversing the cuts, which the firm did not consult unions on, would lead to the loss of an additional 2,200 jobs.

It comes after the transport secretary gave P&O "one final opportunity" to re-employ staff on their previous wages.

He said the company had "painstakingly explored all possible alternatives".

After Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon asked when he would resign, he said he had no plans to do so.

Appearing before the net zero, energy and transport committee, the chief executive said: "I have no plans to resign, I need to see this through. I need to get this business back up on its feet. I need to make it competitive, viable and give us an opportunity to grow in the future and service the needs of Northern Ireland and Scotland on a route that I believe is incredibly exciting."

Ms Lennon hit back: "The truth is you are a failure of a chief executive, and most likely right now the hated man in Britain. Under your leadership P&O Ferries executed one of the most widely condemned decisions taken by a UK company. Your ethics are lying at the bottom of the sea beds. How do you sleep at night?"

The CEO responded: "Look, it was a very difficult decision. It was a decision that we implemented as effectively the only option that in our opinion, we had. A decision, as I reiterate, designed to save 1000s of jobs."

When then asked what it would take for him to quit, he said: "I don't know the answer to that. I think that I have had to make an incredibly difficult decision. I do think it was a better decision than closing the business to implement that decision in a very difficult way.

"I don't think of myself as some kind of saviour. That's not how I mean to come across I apologise if that is how I come across. But I do think we are talking about binary decisions here. Very difficult decisions, but give the company a future, or do not restructure the company and close it."

When it sacked staff, P&O said the move was essential for the firm's survival and that it had made a £100m loss year-on-year, which had been covered by its parent company DP World.

The P&O chief finally revealed that 39 people living in Scotland have lost their jobs - nearly two weeks after nearly 800 staff were fired to be replaced with cheap agency labour.

Mr Hebblethwaite reiterated an apology over the actions taken to MSPs today.

He has told MSPs that 501 of 786 sacked crew had accepted and signed settlement agreements, and that he could not change the March 31 deadline for seafarers accepting their redundancy offers. A further 265 have taken steps to pursue a settlement route.

He told MSPs: "On many occasions I have reiterated and said sorry for the impact that this has had..."

But he added added: "It was a difficult and necessary decision."

He told MSPs: "We know that for our people this redundancy came without warning or prior consultation and we understand that this has caused distress for them and their families. We took this difficult decision as a last resort and only after full consideration of all other options. "

Committee deputy convenor Fiona Hyslop what had changed since P&O Ferries was passed as a going concern at the end of the year, he indicated there issues with viability and there needed to be "a plan for change".

"It is not appropriate for the P&O board to continue to expect additional support and have no plan to become a viable business in its own right," he said.

Asked if P&O had done any planning for an industrial tribunal to reinstate employee, Mr Hebblethwaite, who said he was not expected a bonus, said: "Our assessment was that we would not get to that situation," he said. "So we did fail to consult, and we are compensating in full with that and doing everything we are required to do."

The P&O Ferries boss has defended the company's new crewing model, saying it was common in the industry saying it would use one crew instead of two.

This meant staff would be paid for the actual time they worked plus holidays, instead of "granted full pay for working 24 weeks a year".