Eurotunnel bosses have revealed they saw a big surge in passenger and freight traffic during April - fuelled by the suspension of P&O Ferries for much of the month.

Lorries using its Le Shuttle Freight service totalled 128,980 - up 14% on the same month last year.

Passenger traffic soared 450% last month compared to April 2021 - although should be seen in the context of the travel restrictions which were still in place due to the pandemic.

In total, 204,069 passenger vehicles used the cross-Channel route in April - the best monthly figures since the summer of 2020. More than 131,000 crossings were made during the Easter period alone - a time when traffic chaos gripped the county's roads due to drop in capacity caused by P&O's sacking of nearly 800 staff and withdrawal of its ferries from March 17 to April 26.

Between January to April 2022, Eurotunnel, whose parent company is Getlink, transported 503.848 trucks - up 20% on the same period last year. Passenger traffic stood at 498,831 - up 226%.

This week, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency finally gave the P&O vessel the Pride of Kent the OK to resume crossings after being berthed since it sacked staff and replaced them with cheaper agency crews.

It joins the Spirit of Britain which resumed freight services at the end of April and is now carrying passengers again.

Previous to that, due to a reciprocal agreement between cross-Channel operators, stranded P&O passengers were diverted primarily to rival DFDS.