A major air and sea search is under way for two female passengers reported missing on a P&O ferry from Dover as it docked at Calais in the early hours.
A major air and sea search for two passengers reported missing on a ferry from Dover as it docked at Calais has been called off.
Kent coastguards have been working closely with their French counterparts since just before 0300 GMT.
The Anglo-French operation began just before 0300 GMT when the man and woman failed to return to their coach on board the P&O Pride of Kent ferry.
The Dover lifeboat, a coastguard tug, two helicopters and a French naval vessel are involved in the operation.
The search had been centred on a 25-mile stretch of the Channel.
The two women were part of a coach party on the Pride of Kent ferry who failed to report to disembark.
The coach joined the ferry at Dover and was heading for Brussels. It was twice searched after the alarm was raised.
A Dover Coastguard spokesman said the search operation was centred on a 25-mile stretch of the Channel between Dover and Calais.
An air and sea search involving the Dover Coastguard, the RNLI and the French Navy was then launched.
'Alarm bells'
Andy Roberts, of Dover Coastguard, said the couple had been seen on board the ferry just after it set sail from Dover.
"It appears as if the ferry left Dover and when it arrived at Calais, the coach driver realised two females were missing and alarm bells started to ring."
Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesman Fred Caygill said the decision to call off the search had been jointly taken by the British and French maritime authorities.
He said it was possible the missing passengers could have left the ferry by other means.
Ongoing investigations on both sides of the Channel by the police are continuing.
"We are also involving the Belgian coastguard and police, as that is where the coach was bound," he added.
Search and rescue units involved in the operation are the coastguard tug Anglian Monarch, spotter plane Echo November, Dover RNLI lifeboat, Calais and Boulogne lifeboats, two French helicopters and a French Navy frigate.
Andy Roberts, of Dover Coastguard, said the women were seen on board the ferry just after it set sail from Dover.
"The search is continuing and will continue for some time yet - survival times vary according to people's age, fitness, size, time of the year - there's many conditions to take into account.
"But the search will not be called off for quite some time."
