Traffic slowed as Calais migrants try to enter Channel Tunnel

Thousands of migrants have been scaling fences near the tunnel in recent weeks, trying to hop on freight trains or trucks destined for Britain.

Downing Street said that both the Prime Minister and President Francois Hollande expressed concern about the “immediate security challenges” at Calais and reiterated their commitment to “continue working closely together to tackle the problems posed by illegal migration”.

“Therefore the migrants pile up in Calais and try by whatever means they can to reach England”.

At least 10 people have died since June in the rush to sneak into England, seen by migrants as an “El Dorado”.

And Cameron, who has warned that the crisis could last all summer, promised “more fencing, more resources, more sniffer dog teams” to aid French police in their nightly cat-and-mouse game with the migrants. This sends a clear message: our border is secure, and there is no easy way into the UK.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday his government will take action to deal with attempts by migrants in France to enter the country illegally via the Channel Tunnel.

The migrant activity at the tunnel – combined with a series of strikes by French ferry workers – have disrupted freight and passenger traffic, and spurred both governments to promise higher fences, more surveillance cameras, and extra security guards.

The mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchar, from the opposition Republicans party, accused the British of “imposing their laws on our border and it is becoming unacceptable”.

Cameron has also come under fire for controversial comments on the crisis that has dominated the British media all week, with furious truck drivers blocked on the English side of the channel.

Divided public opinion on the issue of immigration sparked small rival protests on Saturday in the British port town of Folkestone, at the mouth of the Channel Tunnel, with those welcoming migrants in one camp and far-right wingers opposed to their presence in the other.

Swedish migration minister Morgan Johansson said the UK “could do a lot more than the UK is doing” to respond to the migrant crisis.

The director of public affairs for Eurotunnel, John Keefe, said measures to discourage people from coming to Britain in the first place may work in the long term, but wouldn’t solve the situation in Calais.

“We are a small overcrowded island”. “We must help African countries to develop economic and social opportunities so that people want to stay”.

The ministers said the addition of 120 police officers and other security measures around the Calais terminal had led to a fall in the number of refugees gaining access to the tunnel.

The migrant crisis in the northern French port of Calais has hit the headlines in the past week, with people desperate to reach Britain, making attempt after attempt to breach Eurotunnel defences, some paying for it with their lives.

France is also sending police reinforcements as part of the new package of measures.