When smoke was discovered in a tunnel under the Thames last night, Eurostar trains leaving St Pancras Station ground to a halt while fire officers investigated.

Eurostar services to France and Belgium were cancelled for the rest of the evening, even though the line was reopened at 20:00. Hundreds of tourists became stranded at St Pancras Station.

Eurostar offered to pay for hotels, but many decided to sleep on the platform to be ready for when the ticket office opened at 5am. When the office reopened, tickets were offered on a first come first served basis.

Stranded passengers voiced their frustration. Some had travelled to London from France to enjoy a day trip, which turned into a much longer day than expected.

Meanwhile, across town, a fire in Burger King at Liverpool Street Station led to the evacuation of around 2,000 people. At around 10pm the blaze engulfed a ventilation shaft in the fast food outlet, which took 40 fire fighters to subdue.

Eurostar has often been hit with criticism when dealing with emergency situations. Last year, 2,000 angry passengers were stranded in the tunnel due to a technical fault.

If you decide to travel on the Eurostar across to Europe, remember that you will still need to buy travel insurance for your trip. People often think that they won’t need travel insurance if they don’t fly, but that is not the case. Goodtogoinsurance.com has a range of travel insurance policies on offer, and we specialise in providing cover for over 65s and travellers with pre existing medical conditions.