Shropshire drivers try to avoid Calais as immigrants crisis deepens

Would-be immigrants massing in the town are risking life and limb trying to clamber aboard UK-bound lorries, with some saying they will do whatever it takes to cross the Channel.

French police reportedly found 350 migrants hidden in cars and trucks between 6am and 10am yesterday.

The scenes came after Calais descended into chaos as the Channel Tunnel was shut and migrants exploited a wildcat strike by French ferry workers.

Chris Hatton, of Telford-based haulier MAC, said his company stopped travelling to France earlier this year as a result of the problems in Calais.

"A few months ago we had eight in one of our lorries," he said. "We had stopped for two minutes, and there were eight on, and we were parked away from Calais.

"They were picked up by a dog patrol. We didn't have any trouble, we just had to fill out a report about when we did our last check."

But he said it was the fear of further incidents which made the company decide it was no longer worthwhile travelling to France

"You hear about it on television, what's happening out there, and I decided I'm not going to put my guys at risk of that."

Self-employed van driver Ian Johnson, from Ludlow, has been making deliveries to and from Europe for around 30 years. But he says the problem has got massively worse in recent years.

"You get people dropping things on to the motorway to get the lorries to stop, so they can climb into them," he said."Many of these people have got weapons and they intimidate the drivers.It seems to be just Calais.

"I've had them coming along trying the door handles, I have found them underneath my van a few times. They must hang onto the axle somehow. Once, when I had a lorry, I was going to Italy, and one of them managed to get into the back of the truck. They thought I was going back to England, and I took him off in the opposite direction."

Another Shrewsbury-based haulier, who asked not to be named, said his company sent drivers to Calais six or seven times a month.

"People say why don't you go to another port, but the ferries are only twice a day to Bruges, and Caen is too far over. If we told the drivers to use other ports, there would be a lot of food shortages in this country."

He said hauliers and drivers could potentially be fined £2,000 per immigrant found on their vehicles, regardless of whether it was their fault.

"I think the strike has made it worse, the immigrants have been taking advantage of the fact that all the lorries have been stuck over there," he said.

"You can't blame it all on the French authorities," he said. "We need to cut the benefits, these people have come right the way across Europe to get to Calais, so they can get there."

Simon Thompson, distribution manager at Grocontinental, a haulage and storage firm based on Whitchurch Business Park, said: "A number of our sub-contractors have been held up.

"Quite a few have been affected and they will lose time and they will be late with delivery.

"I have heard of migrants storming the motorways en masse.

"There's no doubt it's going to cost time and money and hold up manufacture."