A WIGHTLINK ferry is starring in an unusual production.

The Portsmouth-Fishbourne ship St Faith hosted a team of forensic investigators, while it was out of service and moored in Portsmouth Harbour ahead of the busy summer season.

But there was no cause for concern.

The University of Portsmouth had asked Wightlink if its technicians could mock-up and film a crime scene onboard to help teach students taking an undergraduate degree in criminology and forensics.

During the next academic year, students will be challenged to solve the maritime mysteries using evidence from the video and photos taken on board St Faith.

As part of their work, technicians used professional fingerprint powders on doors and placed boot marks on surfaces to create clues.

Senior specialist forensic technician, Dan McGuigan, said: “Students appreciate learning from a real-life scenario. We valued this opportunity from Wightlink to create quality content for them to view, make notes and discuss in groups.

Wightlink chief executive, Keith Greenfield, said: “We always like to support our local community whenever we can.

“We were pleased to play a role in educating the next generation of forensic investigators by giving access to the team to create challenges for their students to solve.

"As St Faith wasn't in service that day, we were happy to agree to the request.”