LONDON, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Travellers faced another day of misery Friday as the Channel Tunnel remained closed -- but some in London managed to drown their sorrows with champagne even without going to France.

'We are absolutely devastated. But champagne helps,' said Wendy Revitt, stranded in London with five women friends who travelled down from Sheffield, northern England, heading for a weekend of shopping and fun in Paris.

'We knew last night, but we wanted to get away for a girly week-end, without the kids and husbands. We have found a hotel in London. So much for Paris. The important thing was to get away from home'.

But their story was an exception: at London's St Pancras station, many passengers arrived hoping to take the Eurostar to Paris despite Thursday's fire -- and complained of mixed messages from tunnel operators.

'We checked the website last night around 9:00 pm. It just said delays are expected, but it didn't say anything about cancelled services,' said Kirsty McIntyre, 28, struggling to get to France for a weekend with friends.

The fire erupted Thursday afternoon on a freight train about five kilometres (three miles) from the French end of the tunnel, forcing the evacuation of some 30 people, mostly truckers.

While the blaze was rapidly brought under control, British and French firefighters battled all night to finally extinguish it.

Many passengers were forced to spend an extra night in London or Paris Thursday as flights between the two cities quickly became fully booked, while ferries were also in heavy demand.

On Friday morning the scene at St Pancras was still one of confusion.

'I heard the announcement in the Tube this morning that there was no service. When I heard it I didn't believe it,' said Lithuanian Katia Nazmutdinova, 25, who was planning to travel to Paris for a trade show.

'They don't know if the service will be available tomorrow but the thing is, even if I come tomorrow I don't think I'm going to be able to use their train because I think all the tickets will be sold out.'

John Piears, a retired policeman, was philosophical.

'You can jump up and down and scream and shout but it's an accident, it couldn't be helped,' said the 65-year-old, hoping to take his wife Judith on a rail tour of Germany and Austria to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

On Friday morning there was still some confusion over how long it would take before Eurostar trains would resume travelling through the tunnel.

Eurotunnel chairman Jacques Gounon told French radio that some traffic could resume during the day, but minutes later French rail operator SNCF said Eurostar services would remain suspended Friday.

For French pensioners Jacques and Francette Maillard, over from Lyon, it could be worse: they were visiting their daughter. 'We'll take the ferry tomorrow. Our daughter can put us up for another night,' Francette said.

But her husband still had one grumble: British food, notoriously not to Gallic tastes. 'We're stuck for another day, it's no fun. We'll have to eat greasy food for one more day.'