A STRIKE on Thursday by staff at Eurotunnel that paralysed dozens of Eurostar trains ended some six hours after it began, Eurotunnel announced. 

Eurostar passenger trains were set to begin transporting passengers yesterday.

The unannounced strike came after union representatives at Eurotunnel’s French site rejected a €1,000 (£867) offer, and went on strike to press a demand to have it tripled, Eurotunnel said earlier. 

That “resulted in the complete interruption of service and the closure of our terminals in France and Britain,” the statement said.

Unions, including the left-wing CGT union federation, said in a statement that workers wanted a bigger share of the profits after good traffic figures this year.

The group’s revenue was up 36 per cent to €1.4 billion (£1.2bn) in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year.

More than 1.1 million trucks and more than 2m passenger vehicles have crossed the Channel aboard the shuttle service so far this year.

Cathia Capon, a freight terminal co-ordinator, told reporters: “Besides the money, there are other things. Our conditions are not what they used to be.”

Eurostar said that 30 passenger trains had been cancelled out of London, Paris or Brussels.

A Eurotunnel statement said: “Eurotunnel officials and union representatives reached an accord,” but did not specify any details.

French Transport Minister Clement Beaune, having called the stoppage “unacceptable,” said “I salute the spirit of responsibility of all concerned” later on the X social media site.

The action took advantage of a loophole in French labour laws which say unions must give 48 hours’ warning before a strike.

But the rules do not cover unions operating at the tunnel.