Good Morning Britain's Charlotte Hawkins halts ITV broadcast to announce 'breaking' news
Good Morning Britain star Charlotte Hawkins halted Friday's (March 7) broadcast to announce some "breaking" news.
The presenter revealed that French police have closed train traffic to and from Gare du Nord station in Paris after an unexploded World War II bomb was found on the tracks.
"Some breaking news, Eurostar services and all other trains have been halted this morning at Gare du Nord, France's busiest station as police work to disable an unexploded World War II bomb," Charlotte began.
"It was found in the middle in the tracks in the area of Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, during overnight works on the tracks. Four trains from London St Pancras station have been cancelled so far, as have the first six departing Paris for London. Eurostar are advising passengers to change their journey for a different date of travel."
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Charlotte then handed over to travel expert Simon Calder, who weighed in on the latest news.
"It's really difficult. We haven't got any trains leaving London... The first departure from Paris won't be until this afternoon, if that goes. Clearly they're trying to work and clear this as soon as possible," he explained.
"The problem is that services are extremely heavily booked on Fridays, it is the busiest day of the week for Eurostar, which shuffles tens of thousands of passengers everyday through the Channel Tunnel, to and from London St Pancras International. If this was actually a flight issue then people would be able to rebook an alternative airline."
Simon concluded: "Unfortunately it doesn't work in the opposite direction, so really sadly all those people who have romantic weekends booked in Paris, they may well have to be looking at completely different plans, cancelling hotels and seeing if their travel insurance can help."
The bomb was found overnight as work was being carried out in Saint-Denis, a small commune in the northern suburbs of Paris. The discovery has since sparked major travel problems in France.
After suspending services between London and Paris, Eurostar confirmed that they were "expecting disruption" and urged commuters to arrange different travel plans.
"Due to an object on the tracks near Paris Gare du Nord, we are expecting disruption to our services this morning. Please change your journey for a different date of travel," the statement read.
France's national train operator SNCF said that services at Gard du Nord would be suspended until mid-morning at the request of the polices. Eurostar services to and from Brussels appear to be unaffected.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am
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