DEBT-LADEN Eurotunnel is facing a revolt by French shareholders who want to oust its bosses.

A rebel group led by Nicolas Miguet is calling for the present board of directors, including Folkestone-based chief executive Richard Shirrefs and chairman Charles Mackay, to be replaced by a so-called “alliance of convenience.”

They have called for a crucial vote on the issue at a special meeting of Eurotunnel in France on April 7.

But the Folkestone-based operator has condemned the move as “dangerous and opportunistic,” warning that the cross-Channel operator could fall into the hands of creditor banks if the rebels succeed.

Eurotunnel denounced the rebels, saying they had “no credible strategy” and dismissing the “totally unrealistic and fanciful nature of his [Miguet’s] strategic proposals.” They had no “serious programme whatsoever to ensure the future of Eurotunnel.”

The latest manoeuvre was “the culmination of repeated attempts to destabilise the company.”

In a strongly-worded attack, Eurotunnel said these “would-be defenders of shareholder democracy" had set out a “catalogue of vague and pious wishes which are completely out of line with the wild claims that they were still making only recently.”

Mr Miguet, backed by Adacte, a French shareholder association, has been campaigning against the present board for more than a year.

He and a number of other disgruntled shareholders are unhappy with the Anglo-French company’s performance. They want debt reduced - in part by banks writing it off - and revenue increased.

But the directors warn that if the company refused to pay the banks, the banks could take control.

Last year, Eurotunnel made a net loss of £34m following a decline in some areas of the business.

The row has turned personal and nasty, with Eurotunnel privately claiming that the campaign is motivated by French nationalism. Some French shareholders are angry that the company is led by British executives.

Eurotunnel claims that the rebel group’s French-only list of candidates for the proposed alliance shows their failure to understand the bi-national nature of the company.

A French court recently found Miguet guilty of defaming Mr Shirrefs, who lives in Canterbury. It referred to Miguet’s “unjustified, repeated, vulgar and personal nature of the attacks that revealed a particular animosity''

Eurotunnel has accused Miguet of putting out “false and misleading information and for manipulation of the share price.”

But there is no doubt that pressure has been building up as Eurotunnel faces mounting debts, falling revenue and weak demand from Eurostar and freight companies. It is launching its own freight service in an attempt to boost business.

Mr Shirrefs admitted recently that the Channel Tunnel - a privately-funded project - would never have been built if planners had known just how much debt would be incurred for so long.

Eurotunnel’s response to its present crisis was Project Galaxie. Unveiled last month, (Feb) it aims to boost traffic by reducing access charges to Eurostar, the high-speed train operator, and freight operators.

But to achieve this, it desperately needs the help of British and French governments to allow it to restructure its £6.4bn debt.

In contrast to the Galaxie Project, it was an “empty” programme that could not hope to address the “legitimate concerns of shareholders.”

“The Board considers that this amateur and improvised approach cannot address

Eurotunnel's fundamental problems, and disregards the considerable progress

already made by Eurotunnel's management teams who have turned the Group into

a model business in many respects.”

It has called on shareholders to throw out the proposal. “Let's give a real chance to this project, which is finally within reach! Don't let's give up so near to this goal!

“We call on you to express your confidence in this new future for Eurotunnel by voting against the dangerous and opportunistic resolutions presented to this general meeting.”