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| Channel gridlock was caused by 2,000 migrants storming Calais terminal | Channel gridlock was caused by 2,000 migrants storming Calais terminal |
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| About 2,000 migrants attempted to storm the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais, causing severe delays to cross-Channel rail services and gridlock on UK roads, it has been revealed. | |
| The migrants’ attempts to enter the UK forced the tunnel operator to close the terminal early on Tuesday morning, disrupting rail services for up to an hour and having a knock-on effect on road tailbacks in Kent, Eurotunnel said. | |
| The attacks come in waves of hundreds of people at a time | |
| The tunnel operator revealed the scale of the incident on Tuesday evening, some 12 hours after Kent police reintroduced emergency measures to ease tailbacks on the county’s roads. HGVs heading for the continent were queueing on the M20, with junctions eight to 13 closed to non-freight traffic, as part of Operation Stack. | |
| The latest channel disruption came as the home secretary, Theresa May, committed an extra £7m in UK government funding to help increase security at the Channel tunnel’s railhead at Coquelles. | |
| At an Anglo-French conference on migration held in London on Tuesday evening, May also said a deal had been reached with the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, to step up removals of the Calais migrants, particularly those coming from west Africa. | |
| Eurotunnel had initially only said Tuesday’s disruption was due to “migrant activity”. But the tunnel operator later revealed that over the course of the night, some 2,000 migrants had tried to breach the fences of its Calais terminal. | |
| John Keefe, a spokesman for Eurotunnel, said the migrants had begun trying to gain access just before midnight, as night fell. The invasions have been going on for weeks, he said, but had got worse as the number of migrants in the area had increased from about 600 in January to its current estimate of more than 5,000. | |
| Related: Operation Stack: when disrupted Channel crossings lead to extreme traffic control | Related: Operation Stack: when disrupted Channel crossings lead to extreme traffic control |
| “Just before midnight it starts, just after it begins to get dark, which is a little bit later in France. Then it goes on all night,” Keefe said. “They try to break through fences, make their way to the truck terminal and climb aboard trucks and trains to make their way to the UK.” | |
| French police had estimated the number of migrants attempting to invade the terminal from those officers and Eurotunnel staff had managed to intercept, Keefe said. It did not include any who successfully made the crossing to the UK. | |
| Keefe said the migrants were well organised and their attempts to invade the terminal were clearly coordinated. “The attacks come in waves of hundreds of people at a time, so they are overwhelming for the police forces that are there and in the middle of it,” he said. | |
| “We try to keep our services running but we can’t if there are people on the trains or on the tracks. We have to wait for police to clear the area and, at the moment, it takes a very long time because they just don’t have the resources to deal with so many people.” | |
| The home secretary described the fresh moves to repatraite those gathering in their thousands at the Channel port as “an important step forward”. May said: “We have had a constructive meeting with Bernard Cazeneuve and we have agreed on further work to ensure we can return migrants particularly to West Africa, so we can help break the link between people making the perilous journey and thinking they can live in Britain. It is an important step forward,” she said after the London meeting. | |
| There are no immediate details of how the repatriation scheme might work for those declared to be illegal migrants but one point agreed with the French was a move to open a support centre for migrants in Niger under the auspices of the International Organisation for Migration by the end of this year. | |
| The extra £7m comes on top of £12m for extra Channel ports security already announced since November last year and is expected to go on extra security fencing, CCTV cameras and sniffer dogs to detect stowaways on lorries. | |
| #Breaking Some 2,000 migrants stormed Eurotunnel's French terminal in Calais last night, the operator said | #Breaking Some 2,000 migrants stormed Eurotunnel's French terminal in Calais last night, the operator said |
| The attempt by 2,000 migrants comes after the British and French authorities successfully intercepted more than 8,000 attempted illicit crossings over a three week period up to 11 July earlier this month. | |
| The work to build new fencing to secure the approaches to the port of Calais and to allow more tourist cars to queue within a secure area was due to be completed by this weekend. The work on the extra fencing for Coquelles railhead, which has been the focus of the most recent incursions, was also due to be finished by the end of this week. | |
| But it now appears that Anglo-French ministers have now agreed to reinforce it even before that work was completed. | |
| The migration conference in London also focused on the Mediterranean migration crisis and a joint communique after the meeting agreed that Britain and France would work more closely together to return migrants to their country of origins, particularly in West Africa. | |
| Tuesday’s Channel Tunnel disruption came as two Sudanese migrants were recovering in hospital after being struck by high-speed trains on Monday. | |
| A 35-year-old man was hit at about 4.30am as he tried to board trains in the Calais terminal, according to local media. A second man, 32, fell from a train about two hours later. Both were taken to hospital in Calais. | A 35-year-old man was hit at about 4.30am as he tried to board trains in the Calais terminal, according to local media. A second man, 32, fell from a train about two hours later. Both were taken to hospital in Calais. |
| Earlier the same morning, up to seven more migrants, including one aged 14, were rescued from a water collection basin near the entrance to the tunnel. The four-metre-deep concrete basin, which collects storm overflows, was emptied to ensure no more migrants were inside. | Earlier the same morning, up to seven more migrants, including one aged 14, were rescued from a water collection basin near the entrance to the tunnel. The four-metre-deep concrete basin, which collects storm overflows, was emptied to ensure no more migrants were inside. |
| To confirm: J8-9 closed to park freight. J9-13 will remain closed while m/way traffic clears. @LeShuttle tourists can use J11 #alert | To confirm: J8-9 closed to park freight. J9-13 will remain closed while m/way traffic clears. @LeShuttle tourists can use J11 #alert |
| Police said on Tuesday afternoon that Stack would continue for the rest of the day, but they refused to comment on plans for Wednesday. | |
| A police spokesman said the operation was back in place because of continued disruption in Calais and the large number of lorries heading towards Dover. | |
| “Motorists are advised to plan their journeys carefully and allow plenty of extra time if travelling towards the east of the county,” police said in a statement. | “Motorists are advised to plan their journeys carefully and allow plenty of extra time if travelling towards the east of the county,” police said in a statement. |
| On Monday, Highways England rejected the FTA’s proposal for a contraflow system on the M20 to ease gridlock, saying it would present a significant and unacceptable safety risk to those required to work on it. | On Monday, Highways England rejected the FTA’s proposal for a contraflow system on the M20 to ease gridlock, saying it would present a significant and unacceptable safety risk to those required to work on it. |
| Matthew Balfour, Kent county council’s cabinet member for transport, said the chaos was costing the local economy £1.5m a day. “All the roads in east Kent get completely blocked up so people can’t go to the shops, they can’t get to the doctor, the hospital,” he told the BBC. | Matthew Balfour, Kent county council’s cabinet member for transport, said the chaos was costing the local economy £1.5m a day. “All the roads in east Kent get completely blocked up so people can’t go to the shops, they can’t get to the doctor, the hospital,” he told the BBC. |
| “They can’t pick up their children, queues are endless and it’s really insufferable. And it means that people who run shops in the towns and the villages don’t get their trade because people stay at home.” | “They can’t pick up their children, queues are endless and it’s really insufferable. And it means that people who run shops in the towns and the villages don’t get their trade because people stay at home.” |