Leaders at the Eurotunnel Group have defended the company's MyFerryLink plans, after the Competition Commission (CC) ruled that the service - which will provide trips across the English Channel - should be removed from the market.

Eurotunnel acquired the ferries from SeaFrance and wanted to use the ships to supplement its underwater railways crossings.

However, the commission feels this would be bad for competition - a decision that has baffled Eurotunnel bosses.

The firm has sent its own observations to the CC, in which it states that the bidding process for MyFerryLink was above board and was properly organised by the Paris Commercial Court.

It also revealed that the service only accounts for four per cent of the Dover-Continent truck market, whereas P&O and DFDS have market shares of 32 per cent and 22.4 per cent respectively.

Last month, Jacques Gounon - chairman and chief executive officer of Groupe Eurotunnel SA - insisted the creation of MyFerryLink "is a good thing for the market as it is both pro-customer and pro-competition".