Fire-hit Chunnel back to normal

Smoke was seen coming from a Eurotunnel freight service

Services through the Channel Tunnel have returned to normal after a fire broke out on a lorry being carried on a freight train on Monday afternoon.

Eurotunnel said shuttle, freight and Eurostar trains were fully operational by 1500 BST on Tuesday.

Services were suspended, part of the M20 in Kent was shut and 34 people had to be led to safety in the incident.

Inspections carried out during the night showed the tunnel had not suffered major damage, Eurotunnel said.

Safety systems

However, a section of catenary (a hanging cable between pylons along the railway track) at the scene of the fire was replaced.

"The Channel Tunnel's design and safety systems limited the consequences of this incident," said a spokesman.

"The fire was detected at three points a few hundreds of metres apart."

The truck shuttle transporting the lorry that caught fire was towed into France in the early hours of Tuesday.

Investigations are continuing to discover the cause of the blaze.

Eurostar services from London to Brussels and Paris were badly disrupted and lorries waiting to cross the Channel had to be kept on the M20 near Dover to avoid congestion.