RISING oil prices have led to the end of a ferry service between the North-East and Norway, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

DFDS Seaways said last night that the rising cost of fuel had played a part in its decision to end its Newcastle to Bergen, Stavanger and Haugesund route from September 1.

The decision affects 340 workers from Britain, Norway and Denmark.

The company's Newcastle to Amsterdam route is unaffected.

A DFDS spokeswoman said: "The price of oil has had a huge impact and, combined with passenger numbers, it does not make it commercially viable.

"We cannot say at this stage how many North-East workers will be affected.

"The employee consultation will take six to eight weeks. We will look to redeploy people through the business."

The route was already lossmaking when DFDS took it over in 2006.

John Crummie, UK managing director for DFDS, said: "The target was to turn around the negative development.

"Last year, we changed tonnage on the route and changed our crewing on board as well as our service and onboard concepts to support delivery of a positive result.

"The result fell well short of expectation and, as reported in last weeks DFDS' first quarter results, the financial development has fallen below the level required to continue the service.

"Furthermore, dramatically increasing oil prices, downward price pressure from over-capacity in the travel market place and the current economic slowdown are burdening the service."

About 270 British and Danish workers are employed on the company's Queen of Scandanavia ship, which operates on the route, including cooks, bar tenders, shop assistants and stewards.

A further 70 jobs will be affected in the land-based services in Denmark, Norway and the UK.

Mr Crummie added: "This situation will naturally be handled in a caring and respectful fashion towards our employees.

"In the UK, we are starting the dialogue with the employee representatives to clarify things."