Two dozen UK-bound migrants were seriously injured during a mass fight between rival African gangs in Calais today.

A brawl broke out just before midnight on Sunday as Eritreans and Sudanese fell out over the routes they use to get on to England-bound ferries.

It was still raging in the early hours, as knives, metal bars and wooden truncheons were used by the aggressors.

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A migrant sits next to a burnt out shelter in a tent village in Calais after a mass brawl broke out at the camp earlier today

The brawl broke out just before midnight on Sunday as Eritreans and Sudanese fell out over the routes they use to get on to England-bound ferries. Pictured are some of the burnt out dwellings

The aftermath of the mass brawl in Calais between rival gangs who used knives, metal bars and wooden truncheons

Two units of CRS riot police rushed to the scene, close to the Jules Ferry Centre, where a vast illegal camp stretches across sand dunes in the French port town.

'The fighting was extremely serious, with those involved suffering flesh wounds to the head, chest and legs,' said a police source.

'Dozens of people were involved in the initial fight, and then smaller ones broke out all over the area.'

Makeshift tents were set on fire during the fighting, leading to many of the migrants - including women and children - to flee in panic.

The source said that people smugglers who organise passages to Britain for cash were present when the brawl first started.

Around 15 people were treated for injuries at the scene, said the source, while some ten more were taken to nearby hospitals.

There was a similar disturbance last Thursday night, after an Eritrean migrant was shot in the leg as he walked along a road near the camp.

Makeshift tents were set on fire during the fighting, leading to many of the migrants - including women and children - to flee in panic

The camp near the Jules Ferry Centre has been nicknamed 'The New Jungle', pictured, after another notorious camp

The camp near the Jules Ferry Centre has been nicknamed 'The New Jungle', after another notorious camp which was razed to the ground in 2009.

The French authorities have pledged to get rid of them all, but as soon as one is destroyed, another takes its place.

Last week it emerged that British lorry drivers are boycotting Calais because they fear 'somebody will be killed' by illegal immigrants desperate to get into the UK.

Drivers from Maru International haulage company are avoiding the French port, where thousands have set up make-shift homes since last year.

One lorry driver who uses the cross-channel routes said he is 'frightened for his life' by migrants, who he saw breaking into the truck in front of him with a crowbar.

Michael Pearson, a driver for the Yorkshire-based company, said: 'A group of maybe 20 or 30 people, crowbar in hand, broke the padlock off the truck in front, broke the security seal and opened the doors.

Migrants jump on a lorry during a failed attempt to cross the English Channel at Calais. A brawl broke out in the French port town today between rival gangs from Eritrea and Sudan

A migrant attempts to cling on to a lorry in Calais. A source said that people smugglers who organise passages to Britain for cash were present when the brawl first started

Mr Pearson added: 'It's only a matter of time before somebody is seriously injured, killed or windows are smashed and people are dragged out of their trucks. It's an unbelievable experience to go through.'

The firm's managing director, Vaughan Woolfitt, said the company would now be travelling through a Belgian port to avoid the immigrants at Calais.

Calais mayor Natasha Bouchart said the reason so many migrants wanted to join the UK was because of its attractive benefits system.