A convoy of lorries has blockaded the main motorway into the port of Calais in a campaign for the Jungle migrant camp to be demolished.
British cross-Channel travellers are facing chaos as French shopkeepers, police, unionists and farmers join hauliers in blocking the A16, the arterial route around the town.
Hundreds of trucks, vans and tractors made their way to the junction at the entrance to the EuroTunnel on Monday morning.
They are refusing to move until the government takes action over the migrant crisis gripping the area.
Police have put roadblocks in place to stop vehicles entering the motorway and British holidaymakers have been left trying to navigate their way to the Shuttle or ferry terminals on unsigned back roads.
Matthew and Helen Bolton, from the Wirral, got lost trying to find their way to the Channel Tunnel.
The couple were on their way back from a camping holiday with their three young children when they were diverted by police.
Mr Bolton, 33, said: "We have no idea where we're going, we're trying to get to the Tunnel.
"Basically what the police have done is just block the road and not told you where to go - that's what we're a bit miffed by, really."
EuroTunnel has advised travellers at Calais to find an alternative route to the terminal.
Hundreds of protesters marched on foot along the dual carriageway holding banners and waving placards.
Many displayed the tricolour flag, or signs saying "I love Calais" and "My port is beautiful, my town is beautiful" in French.
Antoine Ravisse, president of the Grand Rassemblement du Calaisis, a coalition of businesses, apologised to British families affected by the action.
He said the campaigners want assurances from the French government that the roads in Calais will be made safe again.
"The first point is we want the motorways safe again. It's unacceptable that today in France you can't travel without fear and without the certainty that you won't be attacked," he said.
"We apologise to our British friends - our economy depends very much on the business we do with England.
"We apologise to all the families but some of them have experienced very bad times and dangerous times and they will agree it can't go on."
He added: "We are standing here and we will wait until we hear something back from the government.
"We are not moving until we hear from the government."
A member of Co-ordination Rurale, which had a convoy of 23 tractors taking part in the action, said French farmers are being badly affected by the migrant camp.
He said fields surrounding the area are full of rubbish and human excrement, fences have been torn down and crops trampled.
"We are in the blockade with the lorry drivers, it is us who are suffering as well," he added.
"The camp must go. They cannot get to England so why are they allowed to stay here?"
Despite efforts to reduce numbers by dismantling the slum's southern section earlier this year, up to 9,000 migrants from countries including Sudan, Syria and Eritrea are living there in squalor.
Migrants have even been deliberately causing car crashes on the roads to the port by hurling large objects at cars and then stowing away on lorries caught up in the traffic jams that pile up behind.
Eurotunnel confirmed the protest has now dispersed and traffic will be back to normal again on Tuesday.
A spokesman told Press Association: "Eurotunnel services have been operating normally all day.
"Some freight traffic was held back but, due to a lot of discussion and forward-planning before the protest, most had been diverted and came at the weekend or last week."
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