The sale of the Newhaven Dieppe ferry service has been postponed until two new ships ordered for the route are fully operational.

French-owned Transmanche, which runs the service, was in the process of selling the route to a specialised shipping operator.

It had been hoped Brittany Ferries, SeaFrance or Norfolk Lines Ferries might take an interest.

With no immediate offers, the company has decided not to sell the route until the end of next year when it is hoped two new 16,000-tonne ferries will be making three to four crossings a day.

Talks have been taking place between the unions and managers in Dieppe to ensure no jobs will be lost.

Reports in the French media quote sources saying when a sale has been agreed it will be a subcontracting arrangement, with Transmanche retaining a holding interest as an insurance against job losses.

Nick Wellings, 67, the Brighton-based historian and writer, who regularly travels to Dieppe, said: "It is clear from the French media that it is not until the arrival of the second boat that the appeal for tenders for the subcontracting of the management of the two boats will be launched.

"A condition of the new operator will be that he must preserve the employees as a complete body."

Steve Forrest operations manager of Transmanche Ferries at Newhaven said: "The first of the new ships, the Cote d'Albatre, should be operational next spring, followed, we hope, by its sister ship, Seven Sisters, six months later.

"Once they are both in operation, people will see the advantages and the high potential of this route. At the moment we are carrying on with our operation at Newhaven and seeing an increase in freight and passenger traffic as the reliability of the route improves."

French local authority Conseil General de La Seine Maritime has agreed to continue backing the route financially until at least 2007.