by Thom Morris

Hundreds of passengers trapped inside the Channel Tunnel overnight have been promised £150 compensation.

Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said he was "very, very sorry" for the technical breakdown which left travellers suffering "hellish" conditions.

A Eurostar spokesman said: “Eurostar will be offering travellers who suffered major delays on their train services last night £150 compensation per passenger in addition to a refund on their tickets and a free return ticket.

“Any passengers scheduled to travel today can exchange their tickets for travel on a later date or have their tickets refunded and be compensated for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

“Tomorrow (Sunday) there will be a limited service on Eurostar and we strongly recommend that travellers whose journeys are not essential change their tickets for travel on a later date or have their tickets refunded.

"Later today, we will provide details of the train services that will be running tomorrow on www.eurostar.com”

Stranded passengers spent up to 14 hours on trains after becoming trapped. Many were left without heating, lighting and water and have been telling of a chaotic and poorly organised evacuation.
By Saturday afternoon those stuck were taken by coach to London St Pancras or Ashford International.

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