Three police officers were injured during clashes with migrants trying to get on board UK-bound lorries struck in traffic jams in Calais.
Violence broke out after the French blamed the British for failing to open enough vehicle lanes at the end of the holiday season.
Saturday’s disturbances saw at least 60 mainly young men trying to take advantage of the chaos, as officers used tear gas and baton charges to disperse them.
Three police officers were injured during clashes with migrants trying to get on board UK-bound lorries struck in traffic jams in Calais (pictured)
Violence broke out after the French blamed the British for failing to open enough vehicle lanes at the end of the holiday season
Local police chief Jean-Philippe Vennin: ‘Our British colleagues had opened only nine out of fourteen lanes this weekend, even though we expected 9000 vehicles in the Eurotunnel and 7500 at the port.’
When travelling from France to Britain, travellers have to clear both French and British immigration and customs checks.
Mr Vennin told French news agency AFP that the lane shortages slowed down traffic on the A16 motorway, which was full of holidaymakers returning from the South of France, and other parts of the country.
It was on a stretch of road just before the Tunnel and Calais port that groups of mainly Afghans, Eritreans and Sudanese looking to claim asylum in Britain ‘took advantage of the bottleneck to board a few trucks’.
Mr Vennin said his officers were forced into ‘a game of cat and mouse’ with the migrants, all of whom eventually managed to run away before any arrests could be made.
It is not known if any of the migrants were injured in the clashes, which saw the three unidentified police officers hurt.
The Calais area is officially a no-go area for asylum seekers following the destruction of the so-called Jungle camp last October.
Saturday’s disturbances saw at least 60 mainly young men trying to take advantage of the chaos, as officers used tear gas and baton charges to disperse them
Migrants were trying to exploit the traffic chaos by jumping on UK-bound lorries (pictured)
It was razed by the French authorities, who forcibly dispersed some 8000 men, women and children across France, telling them not to return to the Channel ports.
But they have been slowly returning since then, setting up illegal camps, just as they have done so for the past 20 years.
There are regular disturbances, with the police particularly concerned at the way improvised road blocks are used to try and stop lorries.
Not only are HGV drivers and other road users threatened, but migrants themselves are also regularly killed or severely injured after becoming involved in road accidents.