By Will Smale BBC News Online business reporter

Will there be a British version of Nicolas Miguet, Eurotunnel rebel?

Perhaps akin to the Royal families of old Europe no doubt needing a few stiff drinks after the news first came in that Louis XVI had got it in the neck.

But could the board of a UK company really ever face the same wholesale forced departure as that of Anglo-French Eurotunnel?

Technically, yes they could, but in all probability they won't.

For a start, Eurotunnel is pretty unique - very few companies have such large debt - �6.4bn - combined with such modest resources with which to repay it.

It is this debt and the board's failure to reduce it that were the chief cause of the shareholder wrath at Eurotunnel.

By contrast, UK blue-chip firms have their debts under control.

The chop

That may be so, but shareholder rebellions have been a growing factor in Britain over the past two years.

Shareholders today are asking more questions and demanding good corporate practice National Association of Pension Funds spokesman

They may not have tried to guillotine whole boards - like the case at Eurotunnel all they would have to do is win a vote - but they have certainly succeeded in getting a few bosses the chop.

They include Michael Green the former Carlton TV boss who was prevented from becoming the new boss of ITV because of shareholder opposition.

Likewise Sir Ian Prosser, who was briefly chairman-designate at Sainsbury's.

Shareholder opposition did for Michael Green at ITV

Another company boss - GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier - had his pay package, potentially worth �22m, opposed by shareholders last year.

Other UK bosses have lowered their pay or contract length after shareholder objection. This crowd includes Tesco's Sir Terry Leahy, Charles Allen of Granada and Tom Glocer at Reuters.

Yet while it is technically possible for the whole board of a UK company to be removed, it is much less likely than in France, because of the growing strength of large, institutional investors in Britain.

Accountable

These giant pension funds are more likely to come to an agreement with the firm than an angry independent shareholder up from the home counties for the day.

In practice, it is usually only the chairman or chief executive that has to go, as the price for investors backing a new strategy or rescue plan.

Shareholders took a swipe at JP Garnier's package

"Technically yes, it (a Eurotunnel-style board removal) could happen in the UK," said a spokesman for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), whose members hold about 20% of all investments in the UK stock market.

"Shareholders today have a much greater awareness about their rights and that they are actually part of the company. So they are asking more questions and demanding good corporate practice."

He added: "You can see this in all the complaints against Fat Cat pay over the last few years. Our argument is that a company must pay global prices, but also has to be fully accountable to its shareholders."

The Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), a body which advises institutional shareholders, agreed that shareholders were today more willing to flex their muscles.

"You only have to look at the case of ITV," said David Somerlinck, policy manager at the PIRC.

"If you are looking for a rebellion from small investors, such as at Eurotunnel, then that is unlikely, but shareholders are certainly more aware today that they have the power to appoint new directors."