ARRAN'S ferry service hit a new storm today - leading to NO sailings between the island and Ardrossan this Wednesday (September 25).

As we reported earlier today, the MV Caledonian Isles was finally set to return to the Ardrossan-Brodick route today after nine months out of service for repairs.

But new problems with the port gearbox mean the vessel has to relocate to dock in Greenock for further investigation and repairs.

And as the replacement vessel MV Isle of Arran has to leave for scheduled annual maintenance tomorrow (Tuesday), ALL services between Ardrossan and the island have been cancelled.

Bookings are being transferred to the Troon-Brodick route where space allows.

Services between Lochranza on Arran and Claonaig on the Kintyre peninsula will continue to operate to the published timetable, and options to provide additional capacity on both Arran routes are currently being considered.

A CalMac spokeswoman said: “This is extremely disappointing news, and we are very sorry for this further disruption.

"Our teams are working closely with external contractors to fix this unforeseen technical problem as quickly as possible.

“We are reviewing our vessel deployment options to provide additional capacity on our Arran routes from Wednesday, September, 25 and we’ll provide a further update on these plans tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24.”