Fishing row: British trawler detained as part of French Brexit feud still being held despite Emmanuel Macron climbdown

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A British scallop trawler detained by French authorities as part of a fishing feud with the UK is still being held, despite a cabinet minister earlier telling Sky News it had been released.

The impounded Cornelis Gert Jan, a Scottish-registered scallop dredger that was seized by officials near Le Havre last week, will continue to be held until at least Wednesday, according to its owners.

Andrew Brown, a director of MacDuff Shellfish, told Sky News: “Our understanding is that the Cornelis will be held at Le Havre at least until the hearing scheduled for tomorrow in Rouen.”

Downing Street also said the Cornelis, which French officials claimed was fishing without the correct licence, remained “in port” as part of a legal wrangle.

“The vessel concerned remains in port having been detained by the French authorities but given it’s an ongoing legal process I am restricted in anything I can say further,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.

It is understood that French authorities have brought legal action against the vessel’s captain, an Irish citizen.

MacDuff Shellfish has said the vessel was “legally fishing” in French waters and claimed the Cornelis was being used as a “pawn” in the UK-French dispute.

Earlier on Tuesday, Environment Secretary George Eustice had told Sky News that the Cornelis had been released.

“I understand that vessel has now been released, and I think there’s going to need to be some further discussions, clearly there was an administrative error at some point,” he said.