Prescott to tell tunnel bosses: prove it is safe

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who has overall responsibility for transport, has summoned Eurotunnel executives for a meeting today to warn the company it will have to convince him that the freight service is safe before lorry loads are allowed through.

Eurotunnel has indicated that it wishes to get freight trains running by the middle of June. However sources close to Mr Prescott said that he would not be "dictated to by a commercial timetable".

Mr Prescott's move comes only days after a report by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority described "fundamental weaknesses" in the safety system. Mr Prescott has made it clear that he expects all the recommendations contained in the report will be fully implemented by Eurotunnel before it restarts services.

The CTSA will meet tomorrow and on Wednesday to consider Eurotunnel's request to try running empty freight services through the tunnel but officials say that this will be rejected because "the company has not fully complied with the safety authority's requests".

A carrot that may be dangled in front of Eurotunnel managers is the prospect of a longer concession. The company is in the middle of refinancing its pounds 2.2bn debt mountain and Robert Malpas, Eurotunnel's co-chairman, said last month he was hoping to win investors round by securing an extension to Eurotunnel's licence to operate the tunnel, which has 65 years to run. Mr Prescott will have the final say on any extension.

There, however, will be no attempt to redesign of the controversial open lattice-sided freight wagons. Officials in the Department of Transport are considering a plan to introduce "buffer carriages" which would separate drivers from their lorries. Mr Prescott could ask Eurotunnel to carry the drivers on a separate train if his concerns are not met - which would impose further costs on the ailing Eurotunnel.

There is increasing concern about the open-sided design. The Kent Fire Brigade has long condemned the transporters as unsafe.

Alan Beard, a researcher at Heriot-Watt University who specialises in fire safety, wrote to the Independent last week saying that he "hoped that the authority would change its mind at some time in the future. Before that comes about, however, lives may be lost as a result of the current decision."

The semi-enclosed wagons have come under attack since a fire on a freight service through the Channel Tunnel last November led to 30 drivers needing hospital treatment after being trapped in a fume-filled compartment. The design was derived from alpine rail tunnels, where lorries, cars and coaches have been carried without serious incident since the 1960s.

Because of Eurotunnel's need to carry 44-ton juggernauts, senior managers were desperate to reduce the weight of the new rolling stock so as not to put too great a strain on the axles.

The safety authority compromised and allowed the company to keep the design as long as it incorporated additional fire-detection and suppression systems.