Channel Tunnel services to resume

Trains are due to begin running through the Channel Tunnel later, after a fire saw it closed for most of Saturday.

Eurostar says passenger services between London and mainland Europe will resume on Sunday morning but is warning of delays of between 30 and 60 minutes because only one tunnel will be open.

Eurotunnel said it delayed restarting vehicle and freight services overnight because of "residue smoke" concerns.

No-one was hurt in the lorry fire at the French end of the north tunnel.

Eurostar - which operates services between Paris, London and Brussels - said 26 of its trains were cancelled on Saturday afternoon.

The alarm was raised when two CO2 detectors were triggered at 11:25 GMT.

Eurotunnel said a load on a lorry on board one of its trains, en route from the UK to France, had been "smouldering". Passengers were safely evacuated from trains in the tunnel, and the fire "was quickly brought under control by the emergency services", the company said on its Twitter account.

Firefighters examined the site but a Eurotunnel spokesman said it did not look like there was any significant damage.

During the day, however, at St Pancras station, Eurostar's London terminus, and in Paris, there were long queues of passengers after services were cancelled following the fire. At Folkestone, lines of lorries built up near the Eurotunnel entrance.

Eurotunnel had anticipated resuming services on Saturday night through its south tunnel, which was unaffected by the fire.

But in a tweet shortly before midnight, the company said it was "taking slightly longer than anticipated to recommence services, we need to be sure any residue smoke cleared completely before we do so".

The fire broke out near the French side of the Channel Tunnel

Queues of Eurostar passengers built up at St Pancras as passengers tried to rebook their tickets

The departure boards told the story of the day

Empty trains were being sent through the tunnel to ensure it was clear and customers were being offered transfers to ferries until the service recommenced, but this would not be until after 06:00 GMT, Eurotunnel said.

The company added that it expected to operate a reduced timetable on Sunday.

Eurostar said it would be running a "full service" on Sunday for passengers who have "an existing reservation for this date".

Passenger Ben Lawton describes how his cabin filled with smoke

It added that people whose trains were cancelled on Saturday were advised not to arrive at stations unless they had already been re-booked.

Eurostar said availability on trains was limited on Sunday but passengers who needed to travel urgently should contact its customer services, which would try to put them on services departing after 12:00 GMT.

Eurostar's customer care number is 03432 186 186, or +44 1777 777 878 for people outside the UK.

Eurotunnel's information line is +44 8444 63 00 00.

Channel Tunnel services to resume

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