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Calais fires disrupt Channel Tunnel, Eurotunnel says Channel Tunnel disrupted by Calais fires
(about 2 hours later)
Eurotunnel has warned of continuing delays at its French terminal after a burning tyre protest blocked the motorway in Calais. A burning tyre protest which blocked the motorway in Calais has disrupted Channel Tunnel rail services.
Ferry workers had set fire to tyres on the road leading to the port to try and block the entrance to the Eurotunnel terminal, the company said. Ferry workers had set fire to tyres on the road leading to the port to try and block the entrance to the French Eurotunnel terminal, the company said.
Traffic from Folkestone on the cross-Channel rail service is not being affected, Eurotunnel said. The protesters ended their blockade at about 12:00 BST and services have since returned to normal.
Day return passengers have been advised to reschedule their journeys. Traffic from Folkestone on the cross-Channel rail service was not affected, Eurotunnel said.
The protesters ended their blockade of the terminal at about 12:00 BST. Day return passengers were advised to reschedule their journeys.
Eurotunnel tweeted: "Access to our Terminal remains blocked from Calais & heavily congested from Boulogne." Access to the terminal from Calais was blocked for a time, with congestion on the route from Boulogne.
The company said protesters had left the motorway, but A16 from Calais remains closed as the authorities work to repair the damage caused by the fires on the carriageway. Motorist Michael Shevlin told the BBC: "We got to within about 800m of the blockade and we saw like a big plume of black smoke against the blue sky and there seems to be about 50 to 60 protestors with white sheets."
Passengers are experiencing delays, Eurotunnel said. Striking ferry workers had been protesting in Calais over job losses after Eurotunnel's sale of its MyFerryLink cross-channel service.
"Customers arriving late to check-in at Calais will be accommodated with space on the next available departure," the company tweeted. A Eurotunnel spokesman said: "They were burning tyres and blockading the motorway, preventing access to the terminal.
Eurotunnel has advised those unable to access the Coquelles Eurotunnel terminal from Calais to use a diversion put in place from the Boulogne direction. "This was on the public highway, so we called the police and local authorities to remove the protesters and allow access to our terminal.
Motorist Michael Shevlin told the BBC: "We got to within about 800 metres of the blockade and we saw like a big plume of black smoke against the blue sky and there seems to be about 50 to 60 protestors with white sheets." "The protesters have now left of their own free will - it didn't look as if the police removed them," he said.
Striking ferry workers have been protesting in Calais over job losses after Eurotunnel's sale of its MyFerryLink cross-channel service. There were some delays to services earlier on, he added, but most have been resolved and a full service for freight and passengers has resumed.
Eurostar said the fire had not had any impact on its services.