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The 'World Cup effect' slowed passenger and revenue growth for Channel Tunnel high-speed train company Eurostar.

The company says it has been hit hard in recent weeks by the football tournament which meant many households delayed or postponed their spending on leisure travel until after the final match.

Eurostar also said that the convergence of the Easter and May holidays in the UK had seen consumers travelling only once where they might normally have booked two trips

Although many tourists enjoyed Ipanema beach in Brazil during the World Cup, many travellers put off their holiday plans until the last game was played, say Eurostar

But Eurostar still managed to report rising passenger numbers during the first half of the year, with a 2 per cent increase to five million for January-June 2014.

Sales revenue also increased by 0.5 per cent to £456m compared with the first six months of last year.

'While a number of factors in the second quarter of the year led to a dampening in demand, we are now beginning to see a more benign trading environment with encouraging signs of economic stability in France as well as the UK,' Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said.

During the first half of the year, Eurostar saw stronger levels of business travel bookings with the volume of business passengers rising 6 per cent compared with the same period in 2013.

Hit: Eurostar says customers stayed away until the final match had been played

Over the first half of the year the number of international passengers rose by 7 per cent compared with the same period in 2013.

But the number of travellers originating in South America, including World Cup host nation Brazil, was substantially lower in the period April-June 2014.