A British passenger has claimed he was thrown off the Eurostar by French police ‘for wearing the wrong type of mask’.
The unnamed man – who is in his 40s and believed to be from Liverpool – said he was removed from the Eurostar after a row with the train manager who accused him of being ‘aggressive’ and removing face covering.
Armed French police were seen boarding the London-bound Eurostar in Lille, northern France, yesterday and removing the man. Eurostar requires all passengers to wear a mask onboard but a spokesman today said that there were no rules specifying what type of masks must be worn.
A statement from Eurostar said the man ‘repeatedly removed his mask both in the station and on board, despite gentle reminders from staff.’
‘During the journey, the passenger became aggressive and intimidating towards the on-board team when they politely reminded him to wear a mask as is required under our conditions of carriage.
‘As a result, the passenger was asked to leave the train at Lille station and in this situation it is normal procedure for the police to attend and assist.’
Other passengers on the service said that the female manager of the train took a dislike to the man after an exchange of words, and ordered the service to stop so he could be removed. He was then surrounded by at least eight uniformed officers, and then left stranded in Lille when the train resumed its journey to England.
‘I’ve done nothing wrong and respect all Coronavirus rules – this is absolutely outrageous,’ he said, as he was led away in front of other stunned passengers on Thursday afternoon. He added: ‘I have absolutely no idea what this is all about, except that a Eurostar staff member has taken a very strong dislike to me, and accused me of not wearing the right type of mask.
