The growing migrant crisis in Calais needs British troops to help bring order to the Channel port, French police have warned. Bruno Noel, head of the Alliance union for police deployed to the French port and Eurotunnel site, said the situation could soon become unmanageable as numbers of migrants continue to swell.

According to the Daily Express, Noel said his force is “doing Britain’s dirty work” and called for British reinforcements. “We have only 15 permanent French border police at the Eurotunnel site,” he said. “Can you imagine how derisory this is given the situation?

“So I say, why not bring in the British Army, and let them work together with the French?” he said.

The call to use British troops was first made by Kevin Hurley, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, who proposed “sending in the Gurkhas”. Hurley said the 700-strong 2nd Battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles based just outside Hythe, Kent, should be deployed.

“The Gurkhas are a highly respected and competent force, and are just around the corner. They could help to ensure that our border is not breached.”

UKIP leader Nigel Farage also called for for British military assistance on LBC radio last month.

Mr Noel’s remarks come after Abdul Rahman Haroun, a Sudanese migrant, dodged hundreds of security cameras and speeding trains to walk 31 miles in the Channel Tunnel to Folkestone, before British police arrested him just short of the exit.

Last Tuesday’s security breach came on the same night that migrants made about 600 attempts to enter the Channel Tunnel. About 180 people were caught inside the site, with 20 arrested.

The migrant crisis in Calais has escalated recently with around 3,000 migrants believed to have massed in camps there.

Many have taken increasingly dangerous risks to dodge security and get into the UK and nine people have been killed in their attempts.

Las month Nigel Farage cautioned that more people were needed to check lorries to stop people illegally entering Britain, calling the situation around Calais, “virtually lawless”. He believes the only solution to the migrant crisis is to call for troops.

“In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency.”

Farage continued: “If in a crisis to make sure we’ve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not.”