Eurostar passengers told to cancel or postpone trips

Thousands of Eurostar passengers have ben suffering severe delays and last-minute cancellations due to cable theft - a day after two track fatalities caused disruption.

The latest delays come after 600 metres of copper cables were stolen overnight in the city of Lille in northern France, according to reports in the country. Eurostar said this was forcing it to run services on alternative routes, causing extended journey times.

The company said in a statement that "full are now completed" and trains resumed as normal as of 1pm UK time. It added that "some delays can still be expected until the end of the day".

The statement continued: "Customers have been contacted directly with updates and available options, and Eurostar is advising those due to travel today to postpone their journey with free exchanges and refunds available. "We're very sorry for the continued disruption and the impact this is having on our customers.

Our teams are working hard to support customers in the stations." Money blog: Your Eurostar rights explained Eurostar said services between Brussels/Paris and London had been experiencing disruption since the beginning of the day. Its services were already disrupted because many trains and staff members were out of position after two fatalities on rail lines in France on Tuesday.

At least five services on its London-Paris route were cancelled on Wednesday, and seven others were delayed by around an hour. The operator said it was handing out water to passengers on delayed trains, and it has teams at stations to provide assistance.

Affected passengers are able to change their travel plans free of charge, or request a full refund. Images show large crowds of stranded passengers at St Pancras International station in London today.

In a post on X, Eurostar said the cable theft meant trains were likely to be "subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations.