Smoke alert closes Channel Tunnel

Services were suspended through the Channel Tunnel after smoke was seen coming from a freight shuttle train.

Tunnel operator Eurotunnel decided to close the tunnel after the 1pm incident, but hoped to resume services later.

"The evacuation was carried out smoothly," said a spokeswoman for the high-speed train company Eurostar, which operates services through the tunnel from London to Paris and Brussels.

"All services - including passenger and freight shuttle trains and through-train and freight services - are not running at present.

"We are standing by to start services again as soon as we can."

Eurotunnel spokesman John Keefe said a smoke alarm on a freight shuttle had gone off at around 12.30pm.

Speaking to BBC News 24, he went on: "There were 34 people on board the shuttle and they were safely evacuated.

"We took the decision to suspend services and we are looking into the cause of the alarm going off."

Mr Keefe said it was normal practice to suspend services in such cases and that it was not yet known if the incident involved a real fire or a fault alarm.

He said services would resume as soon as possible and that the company would work hard to clear the backlog of trains.