SALES by Eurotunnel, operator of the cross Channel tunnel, surged by 76 per cent last year to hit almost four billion French francs (£441.5 million), the group announced yesterday.

The group's combined sales, excluding taxes, stood at Ffr3.98 billion for 1996 compared with Ffr2.26 billion for the previous year. Despite the traffic interruption due to a fire in the tunnel on November 18th, fourth quarter sales rose. That rise was due to the positive effect of changes in the franc sterling exchange rate, Eurotunnel said.