Plans for a new high-speed passenger ferry service between Weymouth and Cherbourg have emerged.
HighSpeedFerries.com is in discussion with the local borough council to operate from the town as Condor Ferries prepares to move its Channel Islands service to Poole next month.
The new route to France could be operating from Weymouth next year in a move that would create 90 jobs.
The company plans to run two or three sailings a day in peak season with a journey time of less than two hours.
Director of corporate services, Jonathan Packer, told the Dorset Echo: “This is a real opportunity for Weymouth.
“Our proposal would create 90 jobs and a considerable financial contribution including incoming tourism to the local economy as well as retaining Weymouth’s ferry terminal.
“Weymouth is absolutely ideal following the upgrading of the ferry terminal in 2013 and it’s right that the town should see a return on the investment in improving those facilities.
“This attractive new service would serve the wider western region market and bring new visitors to south Dorset.
“It would be the shortest crossing ever on the Western Channel – the terminal-to-terminal time will be comparable with Dover-Calais and there would be a huge road distance and time saving for travellers between the west of England and western France, compared with routing via Calais.”