A LONG-awaited return to Minehead by the world’s last seagoing paddle steamer the Waverley was marred at the weekend when dozens of passengers were left stranded in the town.

It was the first time in five years the ship had docked in Minehead as part of a new Bristol Channel cruising season which runs until June 18.

Hundreds of visitors from Wales were brought to the town and many disembarked to spend time looking around Minehead, including travelling on the West Somerset Railway as part of its diesel gala weekend.

The Waverley’s arrival on Saturday morning was watched by hundreds of people who crowded around Minehead Harbour before it then steamed along the Exmoor coast to Ilfracombe, in North Devon.

Passengers left in Minehead were due to be collected in the late afternoon by four coaches and driven to Ilfracombe to rejoin the Waverley and journey back to Penarth, in Wales.

However, a communications mix-up resulted in about 70 passengers waiting in the wrong location for the coaches and being left behind.

They then has to make their own way home, many using the No 28 bus service from Minehead to reach Taunton railway station, where they then faced the obstacle of the Severn Tunnel being closed for maintenance and preventing trains running through to Cardiff.

One Waverley passenger told national media he had been stranded in Minehead with his wife and grandson.

The man said: “We waited in the rain for nearly three hours before we had any idea what was happening.”

A spokesperson for the Waverley said the problem happened because some passengers had waited to be picked up at a bus stop at the front of Minehead railway station, when the coaches were leaving from a coach park at the rear.

The spokesperson said more than 100 other passengers did catch the coaches and were taken to Ilfracombe to rejoin the ship.

A full ticket refund and reimbursement of any travel expenses for returning to Penarth was being offered to passengers who missed the coaches.

The spokesperson said: “It took some time to make alternative transport arrangements, being a Saturday evening, but several pre-paid taxis were provided for those who were not able to make their own arrangements.

“We offer our sincere apologies to those passengers who were not able to travel back to Penarth aboard the Waverley and the obvious inconvenience and disappointment this will have caused.”

The Waverley was also due to visit Minehead again this week on Thursday and Friday, with a heritage railway trip included on Thursday.