The boss of a UK trade union has said it is “beyond belief” that a ferry firm which “unlawfully sacked 800 workers and has employed cheap agency labour to maximise profits is winning travel awards”.

P&O Ferries which earlier this year sparked outrage after firing without notice almost 800 staff and seafarers working on the Irish Sea, the Strait of Dover and North Sea, was named at the British Travel Awards as the best company for short sea/mini cruises.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime & Transport (RMT) union said: “It is beyond belief that a company that unlawfully sacked 800 workers and has employed cheap agency labour to maximise profits is winning travel awards.

“The treatment of UK seafarers by P&O Ferries and their DP World owners was one of the worst acts of industrial vandalism ever seen in the industry.

He added “They should not be operating as a business in Britain and rather than receiving awards, P&O bosses should be handed jail sentences for what they did to our members.”

It was in March when P&O Ferries (owned and based in Dubai UAE) had sacked nearly 800 seafarers and replaced its crews with cheaper agency workers that took place on the Larne-Cairnyran and Dublin-Liverpool routes.

In addition the sackings involved the operator's network between the UK and France, on the short Dover-Calais run aswell to the UK-Netherlands with their longest route between Hull and Rotterdam.

A spokesman for the British Travel Awards said: “I can’t comment on an individual company’s policies.”

More from the Belfast Telegraph and P&O's tweet in response to winning an award category.