British citizens living in EU banned from driving across France to reach homes

British citizens have been banned from driving across France to homes in other European Union countries, Eurotunnel has warned.

Brits who hold French residency are exempt.

Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, which transports vehicle-carrying trains between Dover and Calais, said the decision was made by the French government.

Non-essential travel from the UK to France has been banned since December 18 in a bid to limit the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, but several exemptions have been in place.

The firm advised passengers to visit the website of the French embassy in the UK, although its travel information has not been updated since December 20.

No announcement about a change in the rules has been made by the French government.

It comes as both France and the UK posted record increases in Covid cases.

France reported its highest ever number of daily cases with 208,000 confirmed on Wednesday - shattering the previous highest daily number of 179,807 on Tuesday. It means that more than two French people are testing positive every second, Health Minister Olivier Veran said, who warned that 70% of those hospitalised in intensive care in Paris public hospitals aren’t vaccinated. Forecasts have warned of more than 250,000 daily infections likely by January.

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Meanwhile, a further 183,037 lab-confirmed cases were recorded in the UK, breaking the previous record set just the day before of 129,471 cases.

The total includes reported figures for Northern Ireland covering a five-day period which inflated the figures, but the 138,287 figure for England was also the highest recorded and Scotland posted a record of more than 15,000 cases too.

The government said a further 57 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.