550,000 spend autumn holidays by Belgian seaside

More than half a million day-trippers visited the Belgian coast during the autumn half-term holidays - a slight dip on last year, blamed on the weather.

Local tourism body Westtoer said 550,000 people spent time by the sea over the past week. The figure last year was 600,000.

Hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 70% on each of the two half-term holiday weekends - and 60% in the middle of the week.

The final weekend of the holidays was further complicated by rail engineering work in Brussels, with no trains leaving Midi station towards the coast.

The SNCB says the signal update works are going to schedule. Trains should run normally this week, ahead of three further days of disruption next weekend, from 9-11 November.