Successful winter for ski stations

FRANCE'S ski resorts have reported a bumper set of figures for the 2014/15 winter season.

A study by tourism body Atout France, working with the mayors of 50 ski resort communes, found higher visitor numbers compared with last year, with an estimated contribution to the French economy of €2billion.

Brits and Belgians were the top foreign nationalities in the Alps and the Vosges. In general, the week of February 14-21 was the busiest, with many hotels claiming occupancy rates in excess of 90%.

However some ski resorts suffered because of too much snow - with several stations in the Alps and Pyrenees forced to close.

The ski tourism sector in France generates 120,000 jobs each winter. The provisional study comes as the winter half-term holidays, typically the busiest time of the year for skiing, came to a close last weekend.