An independent report into the chaos on Eurostar before Christmas has found evacuation and rescue procedures were not up to scratch.

The inquiry released its report this morning into why several trains broke down in the Channel Tunnel in snowy conditions.

More than 2,000 passengers stranded for up to 16 hours on the stricken trains, while tens of thousands of others had travel plans disrupted.

~ Read the full Eurostar Independent Review here >>>

The inquiry was jointly chaired by former Biddenden resident Christopher Garnett, who used to work for Eurotunnel.

He described how the conditions on board the broken down trains were "appalling". Both the lighting and the air conditioning on board failed.

He said no staff walked through the train to see how people were or told them what was happening.

However, he did say the evacuation was "handled safely".

KM Group business editor Trevor Sturgess was at St Pancras for the release. He described the report as "startling reading" for Eurostar.

He said: "It talks about the reliability of the trains and how they were not geared up for these extreme conditions.

"It talks about evacuation and rescue procedures which were not up to the mark; and it talks about how Eurostar managed the disruption and then communicated the problems to passengers.

"Eurostar does not come out too well on any of those fronts."

One passage from the report sums up the nightmare passengers had to suffer.

It says: "It was apparent the temperature inside the train rose quickly. Parents had to remove their children's clothes leaving them in underwear and nappies. The train was also in darkness.

"It was reported some passengers suffered stress and panic attacks and others started to feel unwell due to the heat."

The report also recommended Eurostar and Eurotunnel work together more closely on evacuation procedures.

It did, however, praise the company for the fact it has had no other major technical problems with its trains over the last 15 years.