Fire near Paris stops trains to UK

PARIS (Reuters) - Domestic high speed trains in northern France and international services to Britain and Belgium resumed late Wednesday after a fire near railtracks in a Parisian suburb caused widespread disruption.

Services on France's SNCF railways were badly hit and Eurostar trains to Britain and Thalys trains to Belgium were halted.

The fire started near the local train station of Saint Denis-Stade de France and spread to a nearby travellers' camp. SNCF stopped all traffic on that part of the network for about two hours at the request of the fire brigade.

Thousands of people were blocked at Gare du Nord, the station from which the Eurostar and Thalys trains depart, which is also a major hub for suburban trains servicing the entire northern commuter belt.

An SNCF spokesman said traffic had resumed gradually in the early evening. Eurostar and Thalys trains as well as high-speed trains to northern France were running with delays of up to two hours, he said.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Matthew Jones)