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.
It comes as hundreds of British tourists fled the plush Swiss ski resort of Verbier under cover of darkness at the end of December – breaking quarantine rules put in place to stop the spread of the mutant coronavirus variant first discovered in the UK.
Train manager Justin, who did not give his surname, 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.
Not essential travel
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.
Related: Hundreds of Brits stage night-time escape from Swiss ski resort quarantine