THE end of years of construction disruption through a huge part of Kent is to be celebrated at a VIP ceremony centred on the village of Mersham, near Ashford, on January 21.

London and Continental Railways, with Eurostar and Union Railways, will formally mark the completion of civil engineering for the first section of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Minister of State for Transport, John Spellar, will be the guest of honour. The occasion will mark the first section of main-line railway to be constructed in Britain for more than a century and will make possible for the first time for Eurostar services to run at full speed in England.

The ceremony will take place at a spot in Mersham where 150 metres of line and the existing railway cutting alongside have been covered by a roof that has been grassed over to create a new open space. Following the ceremony guests will attend a celebration lunch.