P&O Ferries has been accused of trying to cut the wages of its already low-paid workforce.

The ferry operator sacked 800 members of staff via Zoom last month in a bid to save money and instead replaced them with cheaper agency workers, many from overseas.

Now new teams who have been brought in claim they have been asked to sign new contracts on an even lower pay, according to The Mirror.

While working on the Spirit of Britain ferry in Dover, a Romanian chef emailed the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) explaining the latest.

The email said: “They don’t care about rights. This is my sixth day working without contract, please help us.

"They try to give us less money. We are desperate.”

It's claimed chefs currently paid £2,336 a month on temporary contracts were asked to sign new deals cutting their income by £195.

Meanwhile other crew members earn £748 a month for a 40-hour week - just £4.30 an hour.

The new crew was hired through Malta-based International Ferry Management.

As it stands, shipping firms registered abroad and running routes from the UK to Europe are exempt from the UK's minimum pay legislation.

Sources close to P&O Ferries have denied trying to amend rates of pay but a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) spokesman said: “Prior to reinspecting the Spirit of Britain yesterday, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency received a complaint via the RMT, that a seafarer had been asked to sign a contract with reduced wages.

"As part of the re-inspection the MCA investigated and as a result the affected seafarers were issued with amended contracts, which reverted to their original wages.”

Darren Procter, national secretary of the RMT - which is calling for the jobs of sacked staff to be reinstated - says some of the new agency workers were only hired for a month's contract and now those have expired, staff are being offered the lower term.

He added: “Irrespective of nationality, we are concerned – they are just as much victims as our members.”

When P&O dismissed its workforce, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps called for P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite - who earns £325,000 a year - to resign.

After failing previous safety inspections, the Spirit of Britain has now been cleared to resume sailing between Dover and Calais after more than a month in port.

There are around 70 crew members on the ship but it is not known if all faced a cut, or if staff on seven other ferries were impacted too.

Earlier this week, seven agency crew members were sacked for drinking on the job at Dover.