A CRUISE liner will be returning early to Dover after a number of passengers were admitted to hospital showing symptoms of Legionnaires disease.

The Black Watch is due in the Kent port today and passengers will leave the ship before it is deep-cleaned.

A spokeswoman from Fred Olsen Cruises said the liner was returning two days early as a precautionary measure.

"We do not know what the infection is or how it was contracted. If we get the ship back we can get all the people off, which will allow us to do a very thorough disinfection and cleansing," she added.

Of the six or seven passengers affected, five were thought to be British. They were admitted to hospital in Sweden.

The Government's Health and Safety Executive says Legionnaires Disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. It is caused by bacteria that can be found naturally in environmental water sources such as rivers and reservoirs and in purpose built water systems.