Search called off for man thought to have fallen from cruise ship returning to the UK

A search operation has been called off for a passenger who is believed to fallen overboard from a cruise ship returning to the UK.

It is thought a man fell into the water off the Isle of Wight as the P&O cruise ship was returning to Southampton after a two-week trip to the Mediterranean.

RNLI lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter searched an area with a 25 nautical mile radius south of St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight since the early hours of this morning.

But at around 7pm, it was announced the search had been called off.

A Coastguard spokeswoman said: "We are still broadcasting to all shipping to look out for anything in the water."

The P&O ship, named Ventura, retraced its route across the area to help with the search earlier and arrived into Southampton three hours behind schedule.

A P&O Cruises spokesman added: "Following reports of a missing person earlier this morning, Ventura conducted a full search of the area off the coast of the Isle of Wight.”

The ship can carry up to 3,200 passengers and is expected to leave Southampton later this evening for a two-night cruise to Zeebrugge.