More than 2,000 migrants have stormed Eurotunnel's French terminal in Calais in an attempt to reach the UK, causing delays to services as the UK announced an extra £7 million to tackle the crisis.
The operator said it was time for the Government to sort out the problem which has seen large numbers of migrants making ever more risky attempts to access the shuttles between France and the UK.
The latest attempt on Monday evening saw fences damaged in attempt to board the carriages in a freight terminal. A number of people were injured. Eurotunnel claimed the migrant flow is now much for the Government to handle.
A spokesman said: "It is an almost nightly occurrence. We're trying to run a travel business here."
Home Secretary Theresa May announced the extra £7 million funding which will be used to beef up security at the Channel Tunnel railhead in Coquelles.
She disclosed the extra funding following a meeting between British and French officials to discuss the continuing disruption.
She said: "We've had a very constructive meeting. The French and UK governments are working in close collaboration and cooperation on this issue which affects us both.
"We are both clear that we need to ensure we are dealing with the terrible criminal gangs, the people smugglers, who are making a profit out of the human misery of many people."
Mrs May said French authorities have committed extra resources to security at Calais.
Asked why British taxpayers should be paying for a problem taking place on French soil, she said: "We have juxtaposed controls at the border. We work together on dealing with this particular problem."
The Home Secretary said she was "very aware" of the impact of the crisis on lorry drivers, those affected by delays and the people of Kent.
An excerpt from a communique following today's conference said: "The UK and France agree it is vital we deal with the continuous migration of people from countries of origin.
"Both countries have agreed to work together on returning migrants to their countries of origin, particularly in West Africa."
Ms May recently announced that a new secure zone will be created at Calais for UK-bound lorries in response to an unprecedented surge in migrants attempting to cross the Channel.
The area will cost around two million euros (£1.4m) and is expected to be complete in the autumn.
Last autumn the Government pledged £12m to help France tackle the problem of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the Channel.
Meanwhile, Eurotunnel advised anyone taking a day-trip to France via its passenger services to "postpone their journey" due to long delays as a result of "migrant activity" throughout the night.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here