The lives of lorry drivers are being put at risk by a rising tide of violence from migrants desperate to reach Britain.

They say they are facing unprecedented levels of aggression, running a daily gauntlet of attacks involving knives, hammers, iron bars, baseball bats and even guns.

Migrants are dropping lumps of concrete from motorway bridges or threatening injury unless drivers let them inside their cabs. Hauliers fear a trucker will die unless action is taken.

Truck driver Marian Adi from Romania was attacked by a lump of concrete which was thrown from a bridge

Increasingly desperate migrants are trying to 'mob' trucks waiting to board trains across the Channel

Hauliers complain the problem is worse before Christmas with the increase in trade and shopping

Bosses say the problem is far worse in the run-up to Christmas as firms transport more goods across the Channel.

‘Truck operators and their drivers are again in the firing line – sometimes literally,’ said James Hookham of the Freight Transport Association.

‘No one has a right to threaten, intimidate or physically attack drivers and other innocent bystanders. This must be the primary concern of French and British governments before someone gets seriously injured, or even killed.’

Peter Cullum, of the Road Haulage Association, said claims that threats and violence against had drivers doubled were credible. ‘The situation for the drivers is getting far worse,’ he said.

‘They’re facing a gauntlet of intimidation and fear. As more migrants reach Calais, they get increasingly desperate and resort to more violence. It is frightening.’

Cross-Channel haulier Jessica Lewis was surrounded by dozens of hooded male migrants trying to get into the passenger door of her vehicle as it arrived at the port in Calais in the middle of the night.

She said: ‘The police were nowhere to be seen. It is just very scary, very scary indeed. I ended up bursting into tears when I got into the checking area at Calais.

‘It just brings home to you the severity of the problem that drivers are encountering every day.’

Haulage boss Paul Hetherly, from Cheshunt, Herts, spoke to the Mail in Calais, saying: ‘Migrants have been dropping rocks off the motorway bridges to stop trucks. There might be 20 of them.

‘A lorry driver was cut across his chest and across his hand. Until someone does get killed nothing will be done.’

Dave Taylor, 48, from Liverpool, said the violence was the worst he could remember in 30 years of driving trucks. He added: ‘The migrants went up to one friend of mine and said: “Are you going to England?” and he said “No”. Then they shouted: “Show us your papers or we’ll kick your face in”.

‘Someone I know had a brick through his window. If it had been a right-hand drive car he could have died.’

Andrew Bryant, who has also been on the road for 30 years, said he had never been as scared as on arriving at the French port. In a terrifying incident, hundreds of migrants surrounded a fleet of lorries. He said: ‘There was a bang on the door. I looked down.

‘The guy had a machete, waving it. There were lots of migrants with weapons, pick axe handles, craft knives.

‘They were wandering around willy-nilly. There was no form of security whatsoever.’

Migrants are using new tactics to ambush drivers, including stealing motorway signs and placing them on roads to force unsuspecting truckers to stop before swarming around the lorries.

Hauliers claim their drivers are 'in the firing line' as desperate migrants are becoming more desperate

One driver, named only as Phil, said: ‘They put traffic cones and signs out to say the road was closed and diverted us into a cul-de-sac. It was a few minutes off the motorway but we knew something was wrong.

‘There was just nowhere to turn round, you can’t just do a U-turn. There were probably about 200 migrants around us.

They were jumping on the steps, and hanging on the mirrors, and jumping between the trailer and the fridge.’

Last week French police were forced to fire tear gas to try to disperse crowds of migrants who were targeting trucks. Migrants also attack trucks that are forced to sit in queues before security checks.

In a bid to tackle the crisis, Home Secretary Theresa May has announced a new ‘secure zone’ for British-bound lorries at the beleaguered French port to stop vehicles being targeted.