Cross-Channel travellers face severe disruption today as operators struggle to resume rail services after a fire in the Channel Tunnel yesterday.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded last night after Kent Police implemented Operation Stack, forcing lorries to park along the M20, which runs from the tunnel terminal to London to ease congestion at the port and on surrounding motorways.

Last night Eurostar, which operates trains through the tunnel, said that it was unlikely that services would resume until this afternoon at the earliest. Thirty-two passengers travelling on a freight service yesterday were evacuated after a fire broke out on one of their vehicles, seven miles from the French side of the tunnel.

The tunnel was closed for the rest of the day, causing disruption to more than 15,000 passengers. Seven people were treated for smoke inhalation and minor injuries.

Although the fire was soon extinguished, investigations were continuing last night into what may have caused it. The French Interior Ministry was reported as saying that the vehicle was carrying phenol, a toxic, flammable product.

The tunnel carries Eurostar express trains between London, Paris and Brussels, as well as freight and passenger shuttles between Folkestone and Calais. Eurotunnel and Eurostar suspended all cross-Channel services yesterday.

Five Eurostar trains were en route to their destination when the tunnel was closed and passengers on those trains — all of which were stopped on either side of the tunnel — had to leave services at alternative stations. In total, 26 Eurostar services travelling between London and Paris or Brussels and from the Continent to Britain were affected.

Eurostar was warning passengers that there may still be severe disruptions today. All passengers would be offered an exchange or full refund if their travel was cancelled.

About 50 Eurostar services run between London and Europe each day, carrying nearly 38,000 passengers if full. A spokesman for Eurostar said that there would be disruptions even if services were resumed today.

The suspension was causing traffic chaos in Kent last night, with huge tailbacks forming rapidly on the British side of the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone during rush hour.

The Kent Fire and Rescue Service also had 12 emergency vehicles at the scene, where crews were working with the French emergency services to deal with the incident.

The tunnel, which is 31 miles long, lies an average of 40 metres below the seabed of the Channel. Fire closed the tunnel in 1996 when a blaze broke out on a late-night shuttle train carrying trucks, injuring eight. In 2002 the tunnel was closed again after a fire alert on a Eurostar passenger train, and in 2006 a truck caught fire.

Eight million passengers a year travel through the tunnel, the largest inter-capital rail service in the world.

Charlotte Brookes, a Eurotunnel official, said: “All passengers have now left the Eurotunnel site. They have the option of crossing with the ferries.”

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