Delays to services have been caused after 2,000 migrants attempted to gain entry to the Channel Tunnel terminal on Monday, Eurotunnel has said

Thousands of migrants stormed Eurotunnel’s French terminal in Calais last night causing massive delays to holiday makers and lorries attempting to make the crossing to France.

Over the course of the night, some 2,000 attempted to breach the fences and board Eurotunnel shuttles.

The invasion was the cause of delays to this morning’s service, Eurotunnel, the operator has confirmed, as it appealed to the French government to “sort out” the issue.

Theresa May, the home secretary, this afternoon announced an extra £7 million for security at Coquelles, the French suburb which is home to the Eurotunnel terminal.

A spokesman for Eurotunnel said: “There was huge cooperation between the authorities and the Eurotunnel teams.”

Another spokesman later said: “This is an issue that is a really for the Government to sort out. We need them to stop the migrant flow from Calais but it appears to be too much for them to handle.

“It was the freight terminal and there was some damage to our fences – which we’ll have to repair – as they tried to board shuttles. Fortunately, there wasn’t any damage to shuttles. Unfortunately, a number of people were injured.”

He added: “It is an almost nightly occurrence – we’re trying to run a travel business here.”

It comes after passengers were told to postpone day trips to France following the disruption to the Eurotunnel timetable.

In Kent lorries have been quiing to cross the Channel on the M20.

Operation Stack, where lorries waiting for crossings have to park on a closed section of the motorway, is now in place from junctions 8 to 11 on the coastbound M20