A town which was once bustling with activity has been left “sad and empty” with empty shops and a derelict train station.
Ashford, Kent, has fallen into decline as a result of the ongoing closure of the Eurostar terminal since the pandemic.
It is yet to reopen, leaving residents fuming their home town is becoming disadvantaged.
They claim businesses which moved to the town for its links to the continent have been left high and dry, with some considering moving away.
Three years after its closure there are no plans for it to reopen, despite 23,000 people signing a petition.
Ashford resident Janet Halliburton said: "Walking through the railway station, it’s so sad and empty.
"When I used to work in London, there were always several hundred small children going to Disneyland and the hotels were always full.
"Businesses have moved to Ashford because of its international links, but now there aren’t any, they must be going out of their mind.
"Ashford is destroyed. I moved here 27 years ago, and I have just watched it slowly decline.
"Nobody wants to drive to Gatwick to get a flight to the continent when they could just as easily get a train.
"We have this facility and it’s outrageous we can’t use it."
Around 30 people have launched a Bring Back Eurostar Group which held a recent meeting in the hope of drawing the service back to the town.
Monica Nash, part of the group, said: "We used to use it for days out over to Europe and for holidays.
"Before lockdown, I could have got on at Ashford and I could have gone all the way to Lille.
"Flying is an option but it is not environmentally friendly and I think a lot of people now will use it who didn’t before for that reason."
Resident Lynne Newell agreed, saying: “We have the fantastic building there and it is just sitting empty – it’s criminal.
“It will reduce the environmental impact of flying.
"Having it back would drive wealth back, not just to Ashford, but the whole of Kent.”
Eurostar services began running between London Waterloo, Paris and Brussels in 1994.
Two years later, they began stopping in Ashford after an 18-month, £80million construction project, to transform the station into Ashford International.
Since the meeting, Ashford Borough Council (ABC) says it welcomes the proactive approach by residents and supports calls to bring the Eurostar back.
A spokesperson said: “The services at Ashford International Station are not only important for existing businesses and travellers, they are also important for our future commercial investments.
“There was a public outcry when Eurostar made their initial announcement and the local strength of feeling is clearly reflected by this meeting and the petition that has been launched, which we welcome.
“The prospect that Eurostar is not likely to return anytime soon represents a real challenge for those residents and businesses that rely on the service, and those that work locally.
“Ashford is an important economic driver for not only Kent and the east Kent region, but also an important international access point to Europe.
“Significant investment has been made over the last 25 years in infrastructure at Ashford International Station to ensure international services are able to operate to support business and leisure travel to Europe, so it is imperative that the benefits of this investment are realised through services being returned to support the economy of Kent and the UK.
“We will not give up on this and will continue to make the case for their return...”
“We are in regular dialogue with Eurostar and we will continue to work with partners, including Kent County Council, our MP Damian Green, government and High Speed One, to ensure services at Ashford International Station return.
“We will not give up on this and will continue to make the case for their return, as soon as its commercially viable. International rail services provide an alternative to travelling by road or air.
“Not only is it a much more sustainable mode of transport, it also makes sense from an economical point of view too.
“With the valuable support of local residents, we will continue our fight and call on the government to intervene in order to maintain the prosperity of the borough and indeed the wider east Kent region.”
