As the old year shuffled out under a blanket of snow, bosses came under fire for their handling of the transport chaos it caused.

While councils were criticised for not putting enough grit on roads, and failing to grit side roads, rail chiefs faced the fiercest criticism.

Eurostar enters the new year with its reputation badly mauled and awaiting the verdict of a review into its handling of a crisis that left thousands trapped in the Channel Tunnel in a claustrophobic nightmare.

Over the next few days, thousands more were stranded at St Pancras International, Paris, Brussels, Ebbsfleet and Ashford. Operation Stack came into force, disrupting Eurotunnel services and causing traffic chaos across the county at huge cost to businesses, individuals and the Kent economy. Southeastern trains were also seriously disrupted.

Eurostar - which will face competition from rival operators as the market is opened up - blamed Eurotunnel, while Eurotunnel countered by accusing Eurostar of showing "total disregard of safety procedures". Eurostar hit back by saying that "whilst the circumstances in the trains delayed in the tunnel were obviously uncomfortable and distressing, passengers' safety was not compromised at any time."

But it was not so much technical failure that angered customers but the absence - or inaccuracy - of communication.

Eurostar passenger Martin Southam, from Canterbury, said: "We have heard that at different times it led to people almost coming to blows with each other. All that could have been avoided just with a greater flow of information."

PR experts emphasise the importance of communications in effective crisis management. A good reputation built over years can be destroyed in moments by poor communication.

Andrew Metcalf, a director of Tunbridge Wells-based PR agency Maxim, said: "It appears that many detailed crisis communications plans simply didn't work.

"Essentially, the first thing to do is gather the facts, then have a fully briefed senior spokesperson available for media interview. Importantly, don't have spokespersons interviewed among a throng of disgruntled customers as it could inflame an already volatile situation and be captured on camera.

"Weak excuses - the wrong snow, wrong air, late drivers - simply don't wash and perpetuate the bad headlines and create urban myths that live for years."

Mr Metcalf added: "The brands of Eurostar and Southeastern have been undermined, and while we are all quick to forget, the image of 2,000 people stuck in the tunnel will linger for many years and put some people off travelling with them."

Mary Walsh, Eurostar's newly-appointed communications director who succeeded Simon Montague, the former BBC Transport correspondent, accepted there were lessons to learn and the company would take on board any recommendations in the Garnett review.

Southeastern spokeswoman Sarah Boundy, who regularly faced the media during the snow crisis, said: "We always try to do a good job. Despite our best efforts, sometime things don't go according to plan. We will listen to criticism and another time try to do better."

The operator is carrying out a formal review.