A surge of stockpiling ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period saw Eurotunnel see a sharp rise in freight traffic during December, its latest figures have revealed.

During last month, the operator of the Le Shuttle Freight operation saw 131,746 trucks make the trip between Folkestone and Coquelles. That's a rise of 8% on the same period in 2019 - pre Covid-19.

And in the second week of December, as fears of a 'no deal' exit were growing, it saw a record weekly traffic level with more than 40,000 trucks using the service.

The news is a little light in what has been a gloomy time for cross-Channel operators due to travel restrictions sparked by the pandemic and the pre-Christmas chaos caused when France closed its borders amid fears over the new strain of the virus.

However, Getlink, the parent company of Eurotunnel, says freight traffic had "remained strong" throughout 2020 and all the challenges it brought.

Between January and December 2020 freight traffic was down just 9% year-on-year.

The same can not be said of passenger traffic, though.

In December, Le Shuttle saw 86,676 tourist vehicles use the route - down 63% on the same time in 2019.

It saw a drop of 47% in tourist traffic numbers year-on-year.

Eurotunnel said: "Le Shuttle continued to be strongly impacted by travel restrictions put in place in France, in certain regions of the UK and in some other European countries, as well as the testing measures for everyone arriving in France from the UK.

"However, the level of traffic in 2020 remains higher than that of our competitors thanks to the competitive advantage of Le Shuttle, especially in terms of speed, reliability and health, offering a contactless journey from start to finish."

Getlink will reveal its full year financial figures later this month.

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