The harsh message from an ad-hoc committee representing 45 per cent of the £6.1 billion debt came after Jacques Gounon, the company’s chairman, said that he was making “real progress” in talks with the group’s lenders.

M Gounon, who had said that the Channel Tunnel operator would be bankrupt in January 2007 if it did not reach agreement with creditors, is hopeful of striking a deal by the end of January.

But he also admitted that talk of bankruptcy in only 14 months was a bluff and that Eurotunnel could survive for 18 months after that date by taking advantage of a standstill agreement with creditors.

“In just a short time we have made encouraging progress. The negotiations with the ad-hoc committee are intense and constructive and are in line with our timetable,” he said.

A statement from the creditors was less enthusiastic. “The economic and legal reality is that the company must assure the service of its contracted debt. If it is unable to do so, shareholders cannot expect to retain a significant interest in the company,” it said.

“Shareholders need to be realistic about the economic and legal background and the likely outcome of these negotiations,” the creditors said. M Gounon said the company and creditors were getting closer to agreeing what the enterprise value of the company should be and how much debt it could support.

In April M Gounon said the company could cope with only €3.3 billion (£2.2 billion) of debt. However, he hinted yesterday that the debt could be larger because of the operational improvements that have come from a new business model, inspired by budget airlines.

M Gounon, who was endorsed as chairman by shareholders last June after pledging to fight dilution of investors’ funds, said that he was still fighting to defend shareholders’ interests. “They gave me their vote of confidence. That is the mandate I was given by the AGM,” he said.

But he added: “Some of the shareholders are open to dilution. I cannot make any comment because officially I am still at my starting position and the committee is still at theirs.”

Eurotunnel has said that it wants to have a simplified debt structure and move away from a project finance approach to one that reflects the fact that Eurotunnel has the concession to run the Channel Tunnel for another 80 years.

“At the moment all the company’s excess money goes to pay the creditors. We want to have some room to invest to develop the business,” M Gounon said.

Analysts said that any restructuring was likely to reduce the value of shareholders’ interests.

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