The number of people using the Channel Tunnel has fallen.

Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has blamed a combination of blockades in Calais, fuel protests on both sides of the Channel last month and poor summer weather for a 13 per cent drop in passenger numbers.

The third quarter figures were also the first in which the effect of last year's abolition of duty-free shopping in the European Union could be measured on a like-for-like basis.

The car market had continued "to adjust to this new environment", said Eurotunnel, with the fall in numbers also partly the result of higher prices to offset the loss of duty free.

Car traffic was down by 12 per cent in the three-month period, although coach traffic was ahead seven per cent.

But it was the truck market, where Eurotunnel has focused much of its attention since the abolition of duty free, which saw the most vigorous growth.

The market grew by ten per cent, with Eurotunnel transporting 272,052 trucks, up 31 per cent compared with the third quarter of 1999.

An increased service now meant departures took place every 10 minutes at peak times.

The number of Eurostar passengers through the tunnel also increased, up 11 per cent on the same period last year, although rail freight traffic was slightly down, by one per cent.

Eurotunnel transports Eurostar passengers travelling through the Channel Tunnel and the figures excludes passengers travelling between Paris and Calais and Brussels and Lille.

Revenues from shuttle services rose nine per cent, primarily on the back of the strong growth in truck traffic and price increases for cars and coaches.