A van driver has been killed in Calais after refugees, and possible people smugglers, caused a pile-up by blocking the road with tree trunks in a bid to mount lorries heading for the UK, French authorities have said.

The vehicle, registered in Poland, crashed into other lorries on the A16 early on Tuesday morning and burst into flames, killing the man inside.

Nine Eritrean refugees were found stowed in one of the lorries and were arrested, according to the Prefecture du Pas-de-Calais.

British hauliers have previously warned of the dangers near the Calais port for UK-bound lorry drivers, as crude road blocks have been a long-time tactic for those desperate to stow away on board vehicles bound for the UK.

It comes amid growing concern among charities and volunteers working in the Calais that action isn't being taken to a abate the refugee situation in the region, which has seen a return of refugees to the area in recent months, less than a year after its Jungle camp was dismantled and residents relocated. Hundreds of refugees, including many children, are believed to be sleeping in the undergrowth of forests after being chased out of the town by police.

The Independent reported earlier this year that a rise in refugees returning to Calais and Dunkirk in a bid to reach the UK is generating a new “consumer base” for smugglers and people traffickers who target lorries passing through the port. Charities warned that the closure of legal routes to Britain and an absence of child safeguarding services in the region have provided smuggling networks with a “terrifying new market” that involves coercing children into taking illegal routes involving large debts or exploitation.

Calais and Dunkirk camps Show all 16 1 /16 Calais and Dunkirk camps Calais and Dunkirk camps (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A portrait of an Afghan man wearing a traditional Perhan Turban in the Calais Jungle (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps Two Gendarmes guard the main entrance to the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps One Kurdish Iraqi man’s reminder to himself (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps Two young boys in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps An Iranian hunger striker stands outside the only remaining shelter in the South Side of the Calais camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps A church in the South Calais camp, on of the the only structures not demolished in the South Side of the camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps A man gets a hair cut in the Calais camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps Night falls on the Calais Jungle. Fires burn in the distance (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps The containers provided as alternative accommodation for the people in the camps (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A young boy in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A man listens to music inside one of the shipping containers (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps The awful living conditions in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps An Afghan man in the Calais camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps One of the Iranian hunger strikers (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A family in their wooden shelter in the new Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller)

In response to the incident, the Road Haulage Association (RHA), an organisation that campaigns for the road haulage industry, said French authorities must take urgent action. RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said: “Our worst fears have become a reality. We have been predicting this for two years. The security forces currently in place just cannot cope. It’s not just Calais itself that need protecting; it’s the approach roads too.