Easter holidaymakers endured chaos in the Channel Tunnel and at airports on Monday as they returned from breaks over the bank holiday weekend.

       Eurostar passengers were caught up in "nightmare" queues at Gare Du Nord in Paris after a border control IT failure meant travellers could not board trains.

       One passenger, Charlie Daffern, 36, from Cheltenham, said all trains had been delayed for at least an hour.

       He told the PA news agency: "It's a nightmare here. We have been stood in the queue for check-in/security for over an hour and a half. Probably another hour to go.

       "People are becoming very restless, and some people are panicking as they have flights to catch from Heathrow this afternoon. I take it all with a pinch of salt. The main problem is lack of communication."

       Loic Kreseski, 25, who lives in Hackney, said "hundreds and hundreds" were in queues at the station, adding: "I heard French border officers saying that they had never seen that.

       "I would say that easily more than a thousand people are queueing in Gare du Nord. I am frustrated, especially when we know the price of the tickets, the lack of announcements and customer service."

       Travellers using the EuroTunnel Le Shuttle service also reported "chaos" and long traffic queues.

       Planned engineering works on the UK rail network meant travellers faced more delays when they arrived in the UK.

       Network Rail has been carrying out 530 engineering projects costing a total of ￡83 million, which have meant the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes for four days since Good Friday because of upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work.

       Parts of the railway between Birmingham International and Coventry have also been closed, along with lines around Crewe.

       Passengers at Manchester, Heathrow and Gatwick airports have also contended with long queues.

       Lucie Spencer, 25, a salon owner from Lancashire, said customers were dealing with "frustrating" delays after her flight was held for over an hour due to apparent staff shortages.

       She said: "Queues were very long, we were in Terminal 2. They moved consistently but slowly. The mood of the airport was generally calm but you could hear people moaning, of course, as it's not fun standing in queues for so long.

       "It's definitely due to major staff shortage, TUI had basically no check-in desks open, just self check-in, which seemed to cause the huge queue. Security was then huge queues as there was only three of eight security lanes open."

       A TUI spokesman said: "We can confirm that unfortunately, due to staff shortages at Manchester Airport today, some customers are experiencing longer than usual queue times at check-in. Please be assured that our teams are working as quickly as they can.

       "We have contacted all customers due to depart in the next two weeks with advice on travelling with potential wait times in airports and have more information available on our website."

       Manchester Airport has been approached for comment.