THE battle to stop Eurostar from axing services from Ashford International station has not been lost, the town's MP has insisted.

Ashford MP Damian Green spoke out after Eurostar confirmed the new Ebbsfleet International Station will open on November 19.

That will be the date on which controversial plans to slash the number of services running from Ashford from 11 to just four would come into effect, leaving passengers from the area to travel from either London or Ebbsfleet instead.

The cutbacks will end a direct service to Brussels and reduce the number of trains to Paris.

Mr Green said Eurostar's confirmation of its official opening date was further evidence of the company's "intransigence" in the face of continuing opposition to its plans and the MP met transport minister Tom Harris to make a fresh appeal for government intervention.

He said: "Eurostar has been pretty intransigent all the way through and has never given any indication that it might change and this announcement is another example of that.

"We must hope that Eurostar lives up to its undertaking to take Ashford seriously as a strategic part of their network. While it has said it will keep services at this level for five years, we want a longer term commitment."

Eurostar said it was standing by its plans and once again insisted that overall, customers would have more services to choose from.

Spokesman Gareth Headon said: "We will have two stations serving Kent so overall there will be an increase in services.

"We had to look at where passengers were going and we believe that about two thirds of the people who currently use Ashford will prefer to travel from Ebbsfleet because it will be a shorter journey time for them."

He added that around sixty per cent of Ashford passengers came from outside the immediate area, with ninety per cent arriving by car.

But Mr Green said: "The more people are using Ebbsfleet, the less they will be using Ashford."