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P&O Cruises: Two arrested after fight on Britannia

man and woman arrested over a fight which broke out on a P&O Cruises ship have been released from custody but remain under investigation.

Six people were hurt as Britannia sailed to Southampton after a week-long cruise to the Norwegian fjords.

A 43-year-old man and a woman, 41, both from Chigwell, Essex, were arrested on suspicion of assault.

Plates and furniture were reportedly used as weapons during the incident in the early hours of Friday morning in the buffet area of the line’s flagship.

Hampshire Police said officers attended the ship when it docked in Southampton on Saturday.

A police spokeswoman said three men and three women were assaulted, with their injuries including “significant bruising and cuts”.

The Times reported eye-witness Olga Lynch as asking why passengers were not told how to report emergencies on board.

P&O Cruises said it could not comment because a police investigation was in progress.

Good Morning Britain journalist Richard Gaisford, who was on board, claimed the violence broke after a black-tie evening and an afternoon sailaway party from Bergen on Thursday afternoon.

Tory peer and Times political columnist Daniel Finkelstein, who was also on the cruise, tweeted: “If you wonder whether it might be possible to have a society in total peace & harmony consider the story of this fight & what caused it. (We were on this cruise in fact, but P&O Cruises handled it so well we didn’t notice a thing until we read about it).”

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