
Eurostar and ferry services between the UK and France have resumed this morning, following chaotic scenes on both sides of the Channel Tunnel as French ferry staff blocked access in a wildcat strike action.

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at St Pancras International yesterday when services were cancelled and the Channel Tunnel had to be completely shut after migrants attempted to climb aboard UK-bound lorries in Calais.

Eric Vercoutre, head of the Maritime Nord union, led to up to 600 French ferry workers onto the tracks to block trains between England and France as part of an increasingly bitter industrial relations dispute.

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Heated protest: Workers from the French company MyFerryLink burn tyres as they block the main road leading to the Channel Tunnel during a wildcat strike in Calais in a redundancy row

Dispute: Some 600 French workers from MyFerryLink – formerly known as Sea France – face losing their jobs after shuttle operator Eurotunnel annonced in May that it was ending its partnership with the ferry company

Blockade: Protesters set plastic barriers on fire and placed them on the train tracks to disrupt services

Demand: Speaking about the strike, union chief Eric Vercoutre said: 'The French government must put pressure on Eurotunnel CEO Jacques Gounon'

Leader: Eric Vercoutre, head of the Maritime Nord union who led more than 200 French ferry workers onto the tracks to block trains between England and France

Vercoutre, who is also the manager of a Calais amateur football team warned: 'If you want to have a hot summer, come to Calais!'

The union is angry over plans by Eurotunnel to sell a pair of cross channel ferries to a Danish rival, which will lead to redundancies.

Members of Vercoutre’s union set fire to tyres on roads approaching the Eurotunnel terminal and broke onto the tracks.

He said: ‘It's out of the question that DFDS takes our boats. Never, never. We've been betrayed.’

Vercoutre, who is also the manager of an amateur French football team in Calais, believes that 120 of his members’ jobs could be put at risk by the planned sale.

Another union member said: 'This is by no means the end of our industrial action - it will continue for as long as necessary, and we don't care who is disrupted. Calais has become our battleground.'

Up to 600 Maritime Nord pickets struck simultaneously to blockade both Calais and the main Eurotunnel terminal six miles away at Coquelles.

As 150 militants descended on Eurotunnel headquarters, the firm evacuated its 200 staff for safety reasons. There were reports of an attempt to ‘kidnap’ the firm’s chief operating officer Michel Boudoussie

Cancelled: All Eurostar trains were called off yesterday and are expected to restart tomorrow after protesters managed to break in to the Channel Tunnel

Crush: Passengers at St Pancras station were left unable to find any method of transport after all of their services were cancelled for the day

Stuck: Eurostar passengers were stranded at St Pancras station in London yesterday evening after passenger trains to Europe were cancelled for the day

Help: British Transport Police were on hand at St Pancras to help passengers who were stranded after all Eurostar services were cancelled for the day last night

Waiting: With nowhere to go, Eurostar passengers were forced to sit on their luggage and check for updates on services leaving London for the continent

Thousands of travellers were stranded at St Pancras yesterday evening as Eurostar services remain suspended after the striking French port workers went on strike burning tyres and setting up road blocks.

The striking workers also broke into the Eurotunnel, blocking it with rubble and burning tyres in a row over redundancy.

Lorries were also forced to queue for miles along the motorway leading to the port of Dover, as ferry services were cancelled for much of yesterday, with holidaymakers advised to cancel non-essential travel plans.

ADVICE FOR TRAVELLERS HOPING TO CROSS THE CHANNEL TRAINS Eurostar trains between St Pancras Station in London and Gare du Nord in Paris are expected to be running this morning but all are fully booked. Passengers are being asked to check in for services 45 minutes beforehand. Customers can reschedule travel plans for Thursday. Anybody needing to reschedule should go online or call 03432 186 186 to reschedule their journeys. Eurotunnel LeShuttle services have started running again to a normal schedule with no delays. CARS MyFerryLink ferries are beginning to return to normal and are running to schedule. P&O Ferries between Dover and Calais restarted yesterday evening. DFDS Seaways services between Dover and Dunkirk are running on time. There were severe traffic jams on the M20. Police have put 'Operation Stack' in place until at least this morning, diverting non-freight traffic onto the A20 and using parts of the motorway for lorries queuing to get into the port. PLANES There are no reported delays to flights between Britain and the Continent. Advertisement

Would-be migrants took advantage of the gridlock in Calais to try to sneak into lorries and cars heading towards Britain - leading officials to warn holiday-makers to lock their doors while queuing for a ferry or train.

Eurostar were unable to run any services between London St Pancras and the continent for most of the day, after fire damaged parts of the track used by trains.

However, services have been resumed today with the first train for Paris Gare du Nord leaving St Pancras at 5.40am, although trains are fully booked.

Their website said: 'The fire has damaged parts of the track used by our trains, engineers will work on repairs overnight and services will resume tomorrow.

'We have been advised by Eurotunnel that we will be unable to run any services for the rest of the day.

'We will be running a full and normal service on Wednesday 24 June. If travelling tomorrow, we recommend that you arrive in advance, leaving a minimum of 45 minutes for check in.'

After protesters broke in to the Tunnel, three Eurostar trains travelling to France had to turn round and return to St Pancras station in London.

Trains on the French side had to travel back to Paris and Brussels, and ticket-holders were warned not to go to the station.

Hundreds of Eurostar passengers were forced to sit on their luggage at St Pancras International as they waited to find out if trains would resume.

James Butcher, 49, who works in recruitment, had travelled down from Birmingham for a business meeting in Paris tomorrow.

Mr Butcher said: 'The last thing you want to see is the word 'cancelled' plastered across the departures board.

'I am going to wait and see if the trains are running tomorrow so I could maybe get in on time.

'With so many people waiting around in the station not knowing what to do it's frustrating to say the least. But what can you do?'

Isabelle Dupont, 29, a freelance artist based in Paris, had been visiting London for three days.

'It's a very frustrating feeling when you only find out about delays and cancellations when you arrive at the station,' she said.

'If I can't work I won't earn any wages, and if there are no trains going back to Paris then I can do neither.

'Train staff said we are welcome to stay at the station for now, but that's not very helpful.'

Marta Habrial, 24, also from Paris, had been visiting London for a few days, but was due to go home today.

'We can't afford to spend more money on London accommodation!' she said.

Queues: Traffic on the M20 headed towards Dover and Ashford, as cross channel ferries and trains were forced to be cancelled due to striking French workers

Jammed: Even 30 miles from the Channel Tunnel vehicles were unable to move on the motorway as services were cancelled causing chaos

Gridlock: Police in Kent were forced to put Operation Stack into action due to the heavy traffic queuing up on the approach to the Port of Dover

Going nowhere: Trucks park up in the Port of Dover but have nowhere to go after ferry services to Calais were cancelled for much of the day

View: A couple stand and look out over the Port of Dover at the hundreds of queuing motorists unable to get on a cross-channel ferry earlier today

'I think it's bad the trains have been cancelled. We are not sure what else to do other than wait.'

John Normington, 55, who with his wife had hoped to go to France today for a week's holiday said: 'The French striking is nothing we haven't seen before.

'I do have sympathy for the workers, however, I can understand if they're worried they may lose their jobs.

'But when it's eating into your holiday and you don't know when you can actually travel you start to have less sympathy.'

Greg Buchanan, 43, who is trying to visit a relative in France, said: 'The French have no problem with people making their way into the UK using the Channel.

'Now they're making it difficult for us to leave the place! I'm fed up already.'

Michael Marston, 38, said: 'The French have already ruined a holiday of mine before because of travel disruptions caused by strikes. Now they're at it again!

Stopped: Drivers stand and sit next to their lorries which were backed up on the M20 motorway leading to Ashford and Dover in Kent today

Backed up: This afternoon both the Channel Tunnel terminal and the ferry port at Calais were blockaded by striking French ferry workers

Closures: A map showing the M20 in Kent, where Operation Stack was put in place due to the traffic. The red lines show where there were severe delays

Jammed: Roads leading in and around Calais were also gridlocked this afternoon after ferry and Eurotunnel services were cancelled

'This is not the way I want to start my summer. I don't know whether to stay here or come back tomorrow.'

Ferries operated by MyFerryLink and P&O Ferries started running services again yesterday evening, but did ask passengers to postpone their travels if possible.

So many lorries were queuing for ferries from Dover and Tunnel trains from Folkestone that Kent Police were forced to put 'Operation Stack' in place, using part of the M20 as a queue and diverting regular traffic between junction eight and junction nine.

Lorries queued for more than 13 miles on the M20 in Kent and the tailbacks started 41 miles from the Dover and Operation Stack will remain in place ths morning.

Outside Calais, the protest caused long tailbacks on the A16 motorway which witnesses said had attracted scores of refugees looking to clamber on board stationary trucks bound for the UK.

Police have been forced to move in to protect the vehicles, it was reported by The Local .

Stopped: Traffic also came to a halt at the Port of Calais as migrants waited near the Channel Tunnel entrance in a bid to clamber on to vehicles

Brazen: Migrants try to scramble on board a truck as long tailbacks formed on the roads leading to the port

Migrants walk on the A16 as lorries queue to access the Channel Tunnel which was blocked by protesters

Response: Officers on the track trying to clear the rails so trains can run through the Tunnel

NUMBER OF ILLEGALS REACHES RECORD HIGH The number of migrants trying to enter the UK illegally is at a record high, police warned last night. And the National Crime Agency says the ‘sheer scale’ of those gathering in northern France means there will be no let-up in the pressure on our borders. Senior figures say the number of illegal migrants caught trying to enter the country clandestinely last year more than doubled. And they say the total figure is the highest since controls were introduced whereby passengers are checked in Belgium and France but not on arrival in Britain. The agency said that the upward trend will continue as organised criminals exploit chaos in northern Africa, with refugees fleeing Islamic State terrorists. It said the biggest threat came via routes into Italy, where numbers grew by 300 per cent in 2014. Greece was also labelled a ‘key nexus point’. The warning came in the NCA’s annual analysis of the threats posed by the most dangerous crime networks. The agency, which bills itself as the UK’s answer to the FBI, highlighted how some 5,800 organised crime groups were preying on the country. They cost the economy more than £24billion a year through drug smuggling, money laundering, cybercrime and fraud. The NCA said gangsters in the South East were even obtaining Skorpion submachine guns. For the first time it also examined the challenges posed by ‘difficult to track’ foreign criminals, illegal migrants and trafficking victims. The report said more work must be done to identify foreign criminals and stop them entering the country. It also found illegal migration is fuelling the exploitation of vulnerable people. Advertisement

'When I was down at the train, [migrants] were trying your doors to get in the cab, trying to sneak under the axles on the trailers, trying to cut the locks and seals on the back of the trailers, even trying to climb on the roof of the trailers.

'Any way they were trying to get in to get to England. This morning was the worst I had ever seen it because there was no police presence.'

Updated travel advice issued by the Foreign Office today warned: 'Following industrial action at both Calais Port and at Eurotunnel in Coquelles, cross channel services are disrupted.

'There are large numbers of illegal migrants in and around Calais, who may seek to enter the UK illegally.

'Although local police patrols have been reinforced, you should keep vehicle doors locked in slow moving traffic and secure your vehicle when it is left unattended.'

Calais has become the focus of attention recently as migrant numbers close to the port have swelled to more than 3,000 since April.

British truckers have reported facing violence, intimidation and fears of being fined if migrants clamber on board their trucks.

Some now take lengthy detours to avoid Calais altogether.

Chris Cary, a haulier from Rochester, Kent, was stranded for seven hours in Calais, where 3,000 migrants have gathered.

‘This morning was the worst I have ever seen it because there was no police presence,’ he said. ‘There were no police about to help disperse them and it’s getting worse out here.

‘If they want to get into your lorry they will get in by cutting their way through. These people are now armed and dangerous – they are desperate.’

Mr Cary said some migrants would use the back of halted lorries as toilets – meaning produce had to be thrown away.

Yesterday cameras caught one man running down the French A16 motorway to close the door behind others who had jumped aboard a lorry.

James Kleinfeld, who witnessed the chaos, said: ‘We counted around 50 people that we saw hanging around the junction after the exit from the Channel Tunnel train station. I cross quite often but I’ve never seen any migrants hanging around that part.

‘They are on the motorway, they are on the side of the motorway. In the direction of the UK there is miles and miles of traffic.’

While Donald Armour, international manager at the Freight Transport Association, said the situation was worse than ever.

‘There is a lot of fighting between the migrants who all want to be on the best part of the road to get on to the lorries,’ he said. ‘We haven’t had a fatality but it’s not good.’

Aid workers have reported a 'catastrophic' situation, with predictions that some 2,000 more migrants displaced from war-torn countries including Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan could arrive in Calais over the summer.

David Cameron has ordered officials to provide regular updates on the situation in Calais and the impact on British travellers.

Traffic: Migrants stand along the A16 highway in Calais. It has been reported that some tried to board vehicles trying to cross the channel

Refugees: Calais has become the focus of attention recently as migrant numbers close to the port have swelled to more than 3,000 since April

The Prime Minister is planning to raise the crisis in talks with French President Francois Hollande in Brussels on Thursday.

'We are in close touch with the French authorities about the situation and will monitor the impact of the strike on British people,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

British ferry operator P&O demanded an immediate end to the action after having to cancel half its services.

A spokesman said: ‘British holidaymakers are the unwitting victims of this wildcat action in France, the like of which we have not seen in this country since the 1970s. These militants seem to live in a different age in terms of industrial relations.’

In a sign of the scale of the challenge the authorities face, last year the Border Force stopped 39,000 people from trying to enter Britain illegally, twice the figure seen in 2013.

Anti-riot policemen stand guard after moving striking employees off the road leading to the Channel Tunnel

Anti-riot police stand guard over striking ferry workers. British truckers have reported facing violence, intimidation and fears of being fined if migrants clamber on board their vehicles

The deputy mayor of Calais, Philippe Mignonet, reiterated calls from French politicians for the border to be moved from northern France to Britain to avoid a repeat of the chaos faced by lorries at the port.

He told the BBC: 'Calais is not the destination. As you've heard, [migrants] want to get into trucks, they want to get to England.

'England has got to realise that it is not our responsibility. The English border is in Calais and I'm requesting for the border to be transferred back in Dover and in Folkestone.

'We can't just accept any more, to be blamed for immigrancy. Again, they want to go to England, they are not coming to Calais, they go through Calais to get to England.'

As the migrant crisis worsens, truckers were being advised not to stop within about 60 miles of Calais, to stick with other drivers and make sure padlocks are kept on vehicles.