An immigrant who is alleged to have walked almost the entire length of the Channel Tunnel from Calais to the UK has appeared in court.

Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, is charged with causing an obstruction to an engine or carriage using the railway under the Malicious Damage Act 1861.

Dressed in a grey t-shirt, the Sudanese man appeared at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent via video link, and spoke through an Arabic interpreter only to confirm him name and deny the offence.

Haroun is believed to have been found inside the 31-mile long Chunnel near its exit at Folkestone, Kent, on August 4.

The charge alleges that he entered, and traversed as a trespasser, the south-running Channel Tunnel, causing any engine or carriage using that railway to be obstructed.

Haroun was remanded in custody and is due to appear next at his trial on January 4 next year.