AN Englishman has successfully crossed the Channel to France using nothing but a car ferry.
Wayne Hayes left Dover at 9.15am on board the P&O vessel Pride of Burgundy and landed in Calais just 90 minutes later, after losing £15 on the slot machines.
He then loaded his Mercedes Vito with more than 7,000 very small bottles of gassy beer before enjoying a cheese-and-ham toastie and a glass of Muscadet. He returned to Dover at 6.15pm local time on board the Pride of Kent.
Hayes said: “You can get a return for £30 and while on board you have a choice of places to eat and drink, from the relaxed and casual family area to the more elegant and exclusive surroundings of the Club Lounge.”
Mr Hayes is expected to receive an invitation to Downing Street after the prime minister described him as ‘inspirational’.
The latest, trouble-free crossing is in marked contrast to recent disastrous foreign attempts to make the crossing, including a Frenchman in a bucket and a Spaniard on a horse.
Last week two Chinese men had to be rescued by coastguards after attempting the 24-mile journey on a bamboo raft powered solely by ping-pong.
And the Hungarian daredevil Lazlo Pinsky is missing, feared drowned, after attempting the Portsmouth to Cherbourg crossing on an ironing board pulled along by trained nurse sharks.
