Eurotunnel 'wants to be involved' if 'Boris bridge' over the English Channel goes ahead

Eurotunnel has said it is "right to be thinking about" building a new English Channel crossing and would want to be involved if the plans floated by Boris Johnson went ahead.

The Foreign Secretary's idea for a bridge, floated at a summit attended by French president Emmanuel Macron was "very interesting", corporate affairs director John Keefe said.

Current Channel Tunnel traffic only runs at about 54 per cent of total capacity but the company has the rights to build any second crossing until 2086.

Mr Keefe said it would be "decades" before the extra capacity was needed but fluctuating growth rates and changes in technology made it difficult to be more precise.

He said: "It's certainly right to be thinking about it and it's something we consider on a regular basis. We look at the forecasts and we look at where we see traffic growth going and when we have got a stable period ahead of us then we can plan and predict."

He added: "It's a very interesting idea. We want to be involved if it gets developed, as it gets developed, but we think there is still a bit of growth to do first before it becomes necessary. If the economic, political and financial conditions were all favourable we would have first dibs on whether to do it or not.

"If the conditions are right, we want to be there."

The idea was widely ridiculed by politicians and industry alike.

Downing Street played down plans. Theresa May‘s spokesman gave a cool response to reports of the bridge, saying that he had “not seen any plans” for such an ambitious infrastructure project.

They said: “I haven’t seen any plans on that. But what I would say is...we are going to have very good economic ties with France economically, culturally, in areas such as defence and security for many, many decades to come.

“What was agreed yesterday, and what the Foreign Secretary tweeted about as well, is a panel of experts who will look at major projects together including infrastructure and we want to work very closely with our French colleagues on building a shared prosperous future.”

Pressed further on whether a bridge was an option, or whether the PM knew Mr Johnson might raise the prospect, the spokesman repeated that he had “not seen any plans”.

The UK shipping industry also poured scorn on the notion, saying: “Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the world’s busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges.”

French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said: “All ideas merit consideration, even the most far-fetched ones,” noting that the Channel Tunnel already linked Europe’s second and third-largest economies.

“We have major European infrastructure projects that are complicated to finance,” he told Europe 1 radio. “Let’s finish things that already under way before thinking of new ones.”