Train traffic through the Channel Tunnel, which links England and France, has been suspended in both directions following a fire, officials said.

No-one was injured in the blaze that began at 1400 GMT in a freight train about 11km (7 miles) from the French entrance, the operator Eurotunnel said.

Some 32 people - all of them said to be lorry drivers - were evacuated through a service tunnel.

French firefighters have now brought the blaze under control.

The freight shuttle was travelling from Folkestone to Calais. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

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"A train is now on its way from France to pick up the people from the service tunnel and take them back to France," a UK police spokesman said.

The French train company SNCF said services would not resume until Friday.

Security exercises are staged in the Channel Tunnel by police, fire and ambulance services from both England and France to ensure preparedness for such an incident.

In four months in 2007 Eurotunnel carried more than 340,000 lorries and 2.2 million passengers.

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(BBC)

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