REUTERS•GETTY The Eurotunnel has repeatedly been forced to close because of migrant activity

FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

More than 200 migrants broke into the Channel Tunnel shortly after midnight, more than half of whom made it a THIRD OF THE WAY to Britain before finally being intercepted by overwhelmed French police. The huge crowd smashed down border fences paid for by Britain and completely overran security staff as part of a "planned invasion" of the Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles. Police eventually caught up with the group almost 10 miles into the tunnel, but things turned violent when they moved in to disperse the migrants.

Officers were forced to make 23 arrests, with six people being injured in the fracas. In a separate incident a stampede of 300 migrants surged onto the motorway outside the port of Calais and started holding up and breaking into lorries. Exhausted riot police moved in once more to break up the gathering, which appears to have been a coordinated attempt to overwhelm the authorities and truckers.

REUTERS More than 500 migrants made a bid to reach Britain today

REUTERS Overwhelmed French riot police tried to hold regain control of the situation

French police sources said some of the migrants may have been helped by militants from the ultra left-wing campaign group No Borders, which has a presence in Calais and strongly opposes any border and immigration controls. Eurotunnel services between Folkestone and Calais have now resumed, but passengers faced signiicant knock-on delays. Officials believe the "large and co-ordinated" group planned the intrusion before attempting to reach Britain at around 12.30am on Saturday. A Eurotunnel sokesman said: "It's a massive invasion and intrusion by a very large and co-ordinated group of migrants. "They are being gathered up by the police authorities."

REUTERS Two migrants break into the top of a lorry in Calais

He added: "It's clearly an organised attack when it comes in such a large number, there are over 100 in this one group. "They arrived together an in a well-organised manner, broke through the fences and all clearly knew where they were going." "This information will be updated as soon as the service resumes. "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to your journey."

Immigrants in the #eurotunnel again. Train being dragged back to the UK until tunnel clear. — Andy Smith (@AndySmithTV) October 2, 2015

GETTY On Wednesday an Eritrean man became the 13th migrant to be killed at the Channel Tunnel this summer

On Wednesday an Eritrean man in his 20s was hit by a freight train at the Channel Tunnel entrance. He became the 13th migrant to die there this summer. And just one day before before a 20-year-old Iraqi man was crushed to death after sneaking on board a lorry bound for Britain.

REUTERS MIgrants caused chaos with an attempted invasion of the Channel Tunnel

It is not the first time that services between the UK and Fracnce have had to be suspended because migrants have broken onto the tracks outside Calais. Britain pledged millions of pounds to improve fencing around the terminal and has also sent teams of police with sniffer dogs. But the area is still under siege by migrants desperate to reach Britain.

GETTY Britain has pledged millions towards security costs – but it has not been entirely effective

At its peak, the number of attempts to board lorries or trains at Calais was around 2,000 a night. Many migrants live in the infamous Jungle II camp on the outskirts of the French port town, which has become so large that it has its own church and school. Earlier this week Eurotunnel drivers spoke of their fears that they could accidentally kill migrants on the tracks.

The CGT union wrote in an open letter: "Today, we are afraid. Afraid to start, afraid to finish, afraid to drive, afraid to hit, smash, electrocute." Its spokesman Herve Gomet added: "Hitting a refugee with your train, seeing people die on the rails is really something traumatising. "It's not by putting up ... barbed wire fences that the (problem) will be solved."