French police stop ski trip group from boarding Eurostar in London

A very quiet Eurostar departures area in London St Pancras International railway station as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

A group attempting to travel to Switzerland for a ski holiday were prevented from boarding a Eurostar train at London St Pancras in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

Train manager Justin posted on Twitter that French border police deployed at the station had turned the travellers away on Wednesday morning.

A photograph shows the group was carrying at least one large bag of winter sports equipment.

Justin wrote that a ski trip “does not count as essential travel” and there are “very limited reasons for travel to France”.

He added: “I really fancy a trip with my family to eat chips in Brussels but there’s a global pandemic on right now.

“If we all do our bit and are patient for this final push, then hopefully we can get back to doing all of those things we love.”

Last week, a Eurostar passenger trying to travel to a yoga class in Paris was also turned away from London St Pancras.

France only permits a limited group of people to arrive from the UK, such as transport workers, people delivering goods or those who normally live in France.