PASSENGERS stranded in Europe because of the ash cloud caused by an erupting Icelandic volcano are being offered cut-price fares by Eurostar.

PASSENGERS stranded in Europe because of the ash cloud caused by an erupting Icelandic volcano are being offered cut-price fares by Eurostar.

The high-speed passenger train service that links the UK and mainland Europe has announced that between Tuesday April 20 and Sunday April 25 inclusive, all 30,000 of the available standard class seats on its trains will be on offer at a special price of �89 one-way.

Eurostar is also organising extra trains and running as many services as possible.

Between Monday and Sunday this week, Eurostar will run at least 28 additional trains. Over the next seven days, nearly 400 trains will run between the UK and the continent.

Chief executive of Eurostar, Nicolas Petrovic, said: "We are doing everything in our power to help as many passengers as we possibly can at this difficult time.

"Given that the current situation looks set to continue for the coming days, we are putting on extra trains and making 30,000 seats available at a special price.

"We know that people are stranded across Europe and we want to do all we can to get people where they need to be."

A Eurostar spokesman said: "Since flights were grounded last Thursday as a result of the ash cloud caused by the volcano, Eurostar has put on 33 additional trains and has carried 165,000 passengers - 50,000 more than were scheduled to travel during this period.

"Over the last four days, passengers have been connecting with Eurostar services from destinations across Europe with customers connecting from Germany, Spain, Italy and even as far as Greece.

"Given the high level of demand, seats on Eurostar are selling quickly and customers are advised to go to eurostar.com to check availability and make their booking.