Eurostar has defended its decision to start charging customers who book trips using a credit card.

The rail firm, which provides high-speed services through Kent between London, Paris and Brussels, says it has been forced to introduce the £3 charge because of the fees levied by the credit card companies.

"We pay credit card companies around £4million a year for using their services and we are having to pass these costs on to the customer," said Lesley Retallack from Eurostar.

"We want to be clear and transparent from the outset of making these charges how much it will cost people. This is not an easy decision, but we believe it is the right thing to do given the marketplace. The £3 fee still won’t meet the cost we pay the credit card companies."

At the same time as introducing the £3 booking fee for using a credit card, Eurostar has scrapping the £5 fee it used to charge those people booking trips over the telephone. The new fees came into effect on August 11 but anyone using a debit card will not have an extra fee to pay.

"We appreciate some people use credit cards do so because they get insurance benefits from them," said Ms Retallack.