by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Eurotunnel is bidding to take over the French ports of Calais and Boulogne.

The Channel Tunnel operator, which also owns three cross-Channel ferries, hopes to win a concession to run the ports for the next 50 years.

It has also proposed adding the port of Dunkirk to create a quartet of terminals - including the Tunnel complex at Coquelles - under its control.

The ports of Calais and Boulogne are now run by the Opal Coast Chamber of Commerce and Industry under a 10 year deal.

Eurotunnel Group already runs port rail infrastructure at Rouen, Nantes and Dunkirk, and is involved in economic development through its extensive land holdings and French Government demands to create jobs.

It will face competition from the Opal Coast Chamber which wants to extend its concession and is understood so far to be the only other bidder.

Eurotunnel spokesman John Keefe said infrastructure management had been a growth area for the company. “With the concession coming up next year, it seemed a good thing to get involved in,” he said. “We’ve made a preliminary bid and now we’re going into a much more detailed round.”

It would “make sense” to link the all the ports along the Northern coast of France.

“Rather than have them compete for traffic, it might be good to have a considered long-term strategy that worked at a regional level.

"We will be putting forward an economic plan alongside a management plan to get the more efficient organisation into the ports.”

Eurotunnel would be able to take a broader view than existing management, he said.

He dismissed possible criticism of a potential monopoly situation by saying that the ports would compete with other terminals in France, as well as Dover and Folkestone.