The UK government is to pay Eurotunnel £33m ($44m) to settle a legal case arising from ferry contracts awarded to rivals in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

Seaborne Freight, DFDS and Brittany Ferries were handed deals worth more than £100m last year.

But Eurotunnel said the contracts were awarded in a secretive way and sued the government.

As part of a settlement agreement, Eurotunnel has agreed to make some improvements to its Folkestone terminal, including installing new scanners, the BBC reported.

UK transport secretary Chris Grayling said: "While it is disappointing that Eurotunnel chose to take legal action on contracts in place to ensure the smooth supply of vital medicines, I am pleased that this agreement will ensure the Channel Tunnel is ready for a post-Brexit world."

Seaborne's £13.9m deal was scrapped last month.

The idea was to secure extra capacity on routes other than Dover to Calais, but Seaborne was pilloried in domestic media for having no ships.