The first officer of a cross-Channel ferry which crashed into a harbour wall at Dieppe has been suspended.

The Transmanche ferry MV Dieppe will be out of action for at least a week while a 2ft hole in the hull above the water line is repaired.

The French officer at the helm of the 17,500-tonne vessel at the time of the accident is understood to have been breath tested by French police and has now been suspended from duty.

He is believed to have been in charge of the vessel as the captain was in his cabin getting ready for the early morning return trip to Newhaven.

The officer has not been named by French-owned Transmanche, which operates a strict no alcohol policy for its duty staff.

Steve Forrest, operations manager at Transmanche in Newhaven, said: "It is normal for any member of staff involved in an investigation to be suspended. We've not been given details of the police findings."

Four bodies are now involved in the investigations: The Conseil General in Normandy, the main regional council; Les Affaires Maritime, the French equivalent of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Transmanche; and the French police.

Norman Baker, Lib Dem MP for Lewes, whose constituency includes Newhaven, said:

"I am glad the ferry company and the French authorities have acted quickly and taken such action. I hope the inquiry focuses on the procedures in place to ensure the safe passages of vessels between England and the mainland."

The MV Dieppe is being repaired in dry dock at the port of Le Havre.

Transmanche has arranged for its smaller sister ship, the Sardinia Vera, to make extra crossings.

Having only one vessel on the route means there is no afternoon sailing from Newhaven to Dieppe and the number of sailings each day has been reduced from four to three.

The incident at 1.15am on Saturday has not affected sailings on the Hoverspeed fast ferry service on the Newhaven route.