by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Eurotunnel’s bid to create a new Dover-Calais ferry service – playfully dubbed “Eurofunnel” – and rescue 100 Kent jobs could finally be cleared by a French court on Monday.

But shipping experts are not holding their breath as a decision has been put off several times already.

Eurotunnel’s bid for three ferries formerly operated by the liquidated SeaFrance would add a third player to the competitive short-sea route alongside P&O and DFDS/LD Lines.

Eurotunnel has reportedly bid around £50m for the Berlioz, Rodin and Nord Pas de Calais, and a further £3m for other assets.

But it is understood that a deal may again be held up by a demand by SNCF, the French railway company that owned SeaFrance, for an extra £55m - since reduced to £15m - from any financial arrangement.

SeaFrance was officially declared bust in January, leaving more than 600 people out of work.

The Eurotunnel plan would bring the SeaFrance ships back into service but leased to a third-party operator who would take on 500 workers in France and an estimated 100 in the UK, mostly in Dover. A former Brittany Ferries boss would head the new operation.

But if the French commercial court rules in favour of SNCF financial demands, leading to a call for new bids, Eurotunnel has warned that it would pull out.

Spokesman John Keefe said: “Eurotunnel would not improve its offer if it went to a second round of bidding, we would pull out. In fact, Eurotunnel might well reduce its offer because the second round of bidding would take away potential revenue. That would make the investment less interesting.”