
Britain could face a summer of food shortages because of the crisis in Calais, hauliers warned, as the 36-mile queue of lorries on the M20 in Kent finally got moving.

The 18-hour lorry queue which has built up as part of Operation Stack was five miles longer than the Channel Tunnel but hundreds of lorries have finally started making steady progress towards Calais.

Migrant chaos in the French port has forced British authorities to stack up thousands of lorries trying to cross into Europe, dealing a £250million blow to the UK economy every day.

Now hauliers have warned that the intensifying crisis could lead to shortages of key supplies, which could cause supermarket food prices to rocket.

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Long wait: The 18-hour lorry queue which has built up as part of Operation Stack on the M20 in Kent was five miles longer than the Channel Tunnel but is now moving

Dwindling supplies: Britain could face a summer of food shortages because of the crisis in Calais, hauliers have warned. Pictured, queues on the M20 yesterday

Haulage bosses have warned that the chaos will inevitably lead to shortages in supermarkets, with tonnes of supplies ruined by stowaways urinating on goods. Pictured, queues on the M20 yesterday

Truck drivers (pictured yesterday) have been stuck in their cabs for days, with emergency food and water supplies brought in as well as portable toilets

Stacked up: The lorry queues have reached 36 miles long at times as lorry drivers wait to be allowed to cross the Channel

The huge disruption caused by the migrant crisis in Calais has closed a huge stretch of the motorway in Kent for 27 of the last 40 days and looks set to continue throughout the summer.

Truck drivers have been stuck in their cabs for days, with emergency food and water supplies brought in as well as portable toilets. At times, the traffic has moved barely 500 yards in 48 hours and, at its longest, the 'stack' has hit 36 miles. The queues are expected to reduce in length over the weekend.

Haulage bosses have warned that the chaos will inevitably lead to shortages in supermarkets, with tonnes of supplies ruined by stowaways urinating on goods.

Road Haulage Association policy director Jack Semple said: ’It is really disrupting supplies. You can no longer guarantee supplies will be delivered on time.

‘Companies importing produce, but also components, are switching to air freight which is more expensive. This will also push up prices.’

Mr Semple added: ‘We estimate that the crisis is already costing around £1billion a year in terms of lost produce. Costs are rising rapidly

‘It is inevitable that these rising costs will fed through to the shops sooner or later in the form of higher prices. The migrants are targeting the lorries and clambering on board. But once you get contamination, the whole load is written off.

‘That might be worth around £30,000 per load but it could be much more. Nothing can be salvaged as the shops and supermarkets rightly won’t risk it on hygiene grounds.’

Looming: About 800 migrants gathered at the Eurotunnel in Calais yesterday and 300 made it into a secure area - down on previous nights

Waiting to run: A migrant waits by a gap in a fence near the terminal in Calais last night on what was a quiet evening at the port

Brazen: Migrants make their way along train tracks close to the Eurotunnel at Coquelles in Calais, France, as the crisis continued yesterday

Bold: The group of young men and women, most of whom try to cover their faces, make a dash for a nearby freight train parked on tracks

Desperate search: Migrants hover by a cargo train in Calais, France, as they make a final plunge to find a way of getting to Britain

Last-ditch attempt: As the sun went down over Calais yesterday, the silhouette of a desperate migrant was seen climbing over a flimsy wire fence

Dangerous: A man looks through an exit gate at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles where hundreds of migrants have made attempts to cross through

Precarious walk: A group of migrants, including a young child, walk along the side of a road leading to the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais

Dubious: A man hovers over a small stream surrounding the perimeter of the Eurotunnel site, which is also covered in barbed wire

Hopes for a better future: A woman holds her daughter close as they walk along the dangerous bank of a busy carriageway in Calais today

Sell-by dates are also being missed because of the extensive delays, meaning whole lorry-loads of goods have to be binned on arrival in Britain.

The crisis has also seen insurance for freight companies soar, while some drivers are refusing to 'run the gauntlet' through Calais out of fear for their safety.

David Cameron held an emergency Cobra meeting in London yesterday as hundreds of migrants once again laid siege to the Channel Tunnel, taking the total number of attempts to break through to 5,000 this week.

He warned: ‘This is going to be a difficult issue right across the summer. We are absolutely on it. We know it needs more work.'

The Prime Minister held emergency talks about the intensifying crisis with French president Francois Hollande last night.

But his five-point plan for restoring order, including sending extra sniffer dogs and fences to France, was immediately denounced as a ‘sticking plaster’.

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said: ‘The measures aren’t enough, they are just sticking plasters in terms of trying to resolve this problem.

‘Until we actually contain the situation in Calais with the migrants, this situation is a crisis and it’s out of control.’

British holidaymakers are largely unaffected by the lorry queues on the M20, but are facing massive disruption once they reach France.

Yesterday Britons faced carnage as they tried to board ferries in Calais as protesting ferry workers blocked main roads to the port with a burning wall of tyres.

Billowing clouds of toxic black smoke rose over the town yesterday as fire crews and riot police simply watched as the men fed more tyres – and the occasional fire cracker – into the furnace sprawling across both sides of the A216.

Though the road was closed and diversions put in place, the blockade caused miles of tailbacks for British-bound travellers on the A16 and A26 motorways – with migrants taking advantage of the chaos by stowing themselves in queuing lorries.

People taking the Eurotunnel to fared no better, with delays on the shuttle as well as huge congestion on exiting the Calais terminal caused by the industrial action.

DAVID CAMERON'S FIVE-POINT PLAN TO TACKLE THE CRISIS IN CALAIS... BUT WILL IT WORK? More car parks Army barracks will be used as car parks to accommodate lorries stuck on the M20. A handful of soldiers will be involved, waving through the drivers and organising parking spaces. Ebbsfleet will also be used to accommodate HGV drivers at a temporary parking freight overspill. Extra fencing More fencing will be sent to secure the perimeter at the Eurotunnel site. The extra fencing will be on top of the 2.5 miles of 9ft-high fencing that was supposed to be in place by the end of this week – but it won’t be completed until next weekend. Migrants have been able to cut through the fencing currently in place. Sniffer dogs More search and sniffer dog teams will be sent to provide 24-hour cover of the terminal in Coquelles and the ferry port at Calais. Increase ferry capacity More ferries could be put on for holidaymakers on different routes so they are not disrupted by the crisis, though no such plans are yet in place. Fast-track Immigration Bill New powers to tackle illegal working and abuse of the asylum system will be sped up. Mr Cameron said the new Immigration Bill will be introduced as soon as Parliament returns. Advertisement

Riot: Britons heading for France for their summer holidays face travel chaos as they contend with striking ferry workers (pictured this afternoon), the migrant crisis in Calais and Operation Stack in Kent

Striking French workers scuppered plans to run extra ferries to France by blocking roads to the port with a wall of burning tyres this afternoon, bringing traffic to a standstill

Organised chaos: Protesters, determined to cause carnage, pass tyres to each other before throwing them on to the makeshift bonfire

Queues: Traffic was seen building outside Calais this afternoon as the protest caused lengthy tailbacks on roads leading to the port

Delays: Tourists wait beside their vehicles inside the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles as they faced more delays amid the ongoing crisis

Waiting: British vehicles wait behind fences topped with barbed wire as they are held up in queues of traffic waiting to cross the Channel

David Cameron promised to send extra sniffer dogs and fencing to Calais as he admitted the migrant crisis in Calais will last all summer

Flee: A man with his hood pulled up runs past Gendarmarie and along a road leading to the Eurotunnel terminal in another day of delays yesterday

Run free: A woman wearing a faded dressing gown smiles as she runs along a road close to the Eurotunnel where migrants have made attempts to storm the area for the last four nights

Hazardous: Three women and a man walk along the side of a road in Calais, France, as another day of mayhem got under way at the port yesterday

The situation has left some Brits with no other decision than to call off their holidays to Europe entirely.

One angry mother took to social media to demand a refund from bosses at Eurotunnel adding there was 'no way we are travelling on a late night train with a nine-month-old baby'.

Kirsten Hendrich, who runs a jewellery company in Guildford, Surrey, posted on the company's Facebook page: 'We will spend hours in a queue in Kent or in a car park so we feel a refund or date exchange is the only option.'

She added: 'Everyone I know who has travelled over the past month has been delayed by at least two hours despite Eurotunnel stating normal service on Twitter.'

Ukip MEP Julie Reid has also cancelled her trip to France, tweeting: 'Well our holiday is already ruined. Hubby & I were to drive to the Continent today, via Calais, now staying home'.

Frustrated tourists who are already stuck in the queues have branded striking French workers as 'idiots' for blocking the road.

Ministers were preparing to hold talks with ferry companies about diverting British tourists onto ferries, but striking French workers scuppered plans by blocking roads to the port.

Alex Chienne tweeted: 'We have been stuck in Calais for hours because these idiots have blocked the whole highway with burning tyres.'

Andrea Hemmett added: 'All still kicking off in Calais. Stuck in long queue - plumes of smoke and lots of police...all NYO [Nottingham Youth Orchestra] safe though and happy :) #lovelybunch'.

Sophie Ann McNair asked whether she was entitled to any compensation or vouchers from P&O Ferries after being caught up in delays but was told as it was 'out of their hands' and therefore she couldn't.

Meanwhile Eurotunnel does offer refunds for families hoping to cancel before the day they're due to travel but customers have reported being stuck on hold or unable to get through to the company.

Angry mother Kirsten Hendrich took to the Eurotunnel Facebook page to demand a refund after deciding not to travel with her baby

Staying home: Ukip MEP Julia Reid cancelled her trip to France via Calais after reading reports of the chaos at the port

'Idiots': Frustrated Britons trying to pass through Calais were left queuing for hours thanks the huge tailbacks caused by the strikes

Diversions: Police sent tourists on different routes through the port town, adding more hours to long journeys

Crisis: Scores of migrants gathering at the French port have caused huge disruption at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in Calais

Putting down roots: Men sprawl in the shade, surrounded by clothing, rubbish and debris, at the migrant camp this afternoon

The Prime Minister's current plans include sending an unspecified number of extra sniffer dogs to France and strengthening and extending the fencing which guards the Eurotunnel perimeter in Coquelles, near Calais

Final bid for freedom: It emerged that 1,000 attempts had been made by migrants to storm the Tunnel on Thursday night alone

Mr Cameron pledged to fast-track the Government’s latest Immigration Bill, which will now be introduced as soon as Parliament returns in September, as migrants were seen running past Gendarmarie in Calais today

Keeping watch: A Gendarmarie stands on a road close to the Eurotunnel where migrants flee past them as another night of chaos ensues

One hope: Sudanese men sit in a field near the Eurotunnel terminal after leaving the nearby base camp for migrants known as the 'Jungle'

It was a quieter night in Calais last night, with the BBC reporting that around 800 migrants gathered outside the Channel Tunnel but around 300 made it into a secure area.

At the Eurotunnel terminal, Thursday saw groups of migrants up to 200 strong storming security fences en masse, giving the vastly outnumbered police little chance of stopping them all. Every time at least a handful succeed in getting over fences protecting Eurotunnel trains, or into lorries bound for the UK. The tactics were in evidence all through the night and into the early hours of yesterday morning.

In one instance six police officers could do little to hold back a group of 50 men who ran at them. The migrants cheered as they breached the police line and sprinted off into the distance. All the police could do was get back inside their van and drive after them, by which time the men had fled in different directions.

A short time later, 200 migrants tried to storm the Channel Tunnel itself. As a train from the UK pulled in they rushed at an exit where cars leaving the tunnel join a main road, causing British holidaymakers to swerve to avoid them. A handful made it through before riot police formed a cordon.

A stand-off between the migrants and the police ensued as more and more migrants appeared from all directions to join the crowd. Amid the chaos, a number began to scale the fence – a loud cheer going up every time one succeeded.

Police said 1,000 attempts were made to enter the Eurotunnel ‘secure zone’ on Thursday, resulting in 30 arrests. This brings the total to 5,000 attempts since Sunday.

A police source in Calais said migrants had ‘adapted’ their tactics recently. ‘They were trying to get through in small groups before, but now they come at us in large numbers,’ they said. ‘The idea is to cause absolute chaos, so that at least some get through. We are limited in number and can’t be everywhere.’

Women and children have also been spotted breaking into the secure zone this week, with migrants seen helping young children over fences and through holes. The police source added: ‘It doesn’t stop. We have had to deal with gangs of young men, but also families.

Ten migrants have died in the last two months, with dozens more injured trying to board moving trucks and trains. Extra police have been deployed but officers are still overwhelmed. Their efforts are often futile, as once a migrant is moved on they simply return an hour later to try again. Police make few arrests, as processing the hundreds stopped each night would take too long.

An estimated 5,000 migrants now live in the Calais camps. The Channel Tunnel is their main focus after ferry port security was improved.