Southend Pier Waverley river cruises due to resume on Monday

Thirteen cruises due to take place on Friday and over the weekend were cancelled after a paddle on the world's last seagoing paddle-steamer was damaged en route to Southend on Wednesday last week.

The Waverley briefly returned to Portsmouth for repairs that have been successful.

Today a spokesman confirmed planned cruises tomorrow and those running until October 13 are expected to go ahead as planned.

He said: "While we have had to cancel sailings over the weekend (September, 27th to 29th) due to a mechanical issue, I am pleased to confirm that sailings are scheduled to resume from Monday, September 30th, including trips from Southend Pier.

"We want to reassure our passengers that their bookings remain valid, and that Waverley will  be back in service."

Passengers were left disappointed last week with Simon Murdoch, who was due to board on Saturday, saying it was a "great shame."

Each cruise trip accommodates around 800 passengers, with thousands expected to have booked for excursions.

Speaking about the weekend cancellation, Mr Murdoch said: "I think it is a great shame this has happened but these things do happen with floating debris on rivers.

“I was really looking forward to my trip up the Thames and under Tower Bridge twice.

“A similar thing happened a few seasons ago at Southend as well.

“Although they do carry spare parts for the paddles onboard Waverley it is sadly not an easy task to replace the broken wooden parts of the paddle and does take a few days to complete.”

At the time, a spokesman for Waverley Excursions also said: “We are working as swiftly as possible to ensure that Waverley can sail on Monday, September 30 as advertised.

“We sincerely apologise for having to cancel sailings to conduct this work and for the disappointment and inconvenience this will cause our passengers.

“Those with pre-booked tickets will be contacted directly, and tickets can either be transferred or refunded.”