by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Channel Tunnel chiefs are using the silver anniversary of the treaty that forged the fixed link to renew their call for a regional train service between Kent and Northern France.

They were among guests from both sides of the Channel who gathered in the historic Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral on Friday to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Canterbury 25 years earlier.

On February 12, 1986, the then Prime Minister and French President Francois Mitterand signed the treaty in the same setting.

The same chairs and table were brought out to commemorate an event that paved the way for construction of the tunnel.

Eurotunnel Group chief executive Jacques Gounon hailed it as the greatest engineering feat of the 20th century that had transformed relations between the UK, France and the Continent.

But two things were still missing - higher levels of freight, and a metro rail service serving Ashford, Calais Frethun and Lille.

He said Eurotunnel would do what it could to promote local rail service, but it would almost certainly need public subsidy to start the project.

"It's not a technical issue, it's in the hands of the politicians," he said.

Former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, now a Eurotunnel director, said: "It's really frustrating that we haven't yet got the local link.

"What we need are fast, reliable, affordable, commuter trains. I will raise this with colleagues to see what Eurotunnel can do to encourage train operators to see this as a profitable opportunity."