Six migrants campaigning for unrestricted access to Britain were today found guilty in France of breaking through a security fence in Calais and boarding a ferry heading for the UK.

The migrants – four Afghans, a Syrian, and a Sudanese man all in their 30s – said they had simply been following members of No Borders, a UK-based anarchist group, last month.

But they walked free from court, while two French people - who denied having anything to do with No Borders - were given modest suspended fines worth about £200 each and partly suspended.

Boarding: Today’s case in France related to trouble around the ‘Spirit of Britain’ ferry last month (above)

Jean-Pierre Valensi, prosecuting, said: ‘Everything was planned for an invasion of the Calais ferry port.’

Mr Valensi said the idea was to create absolute chaos, so allowing as many people as possible to get across to England.

But Emilie Leschaeve, for the defence, said nothing had been premeditated, and the intrusion into the port was just something that happened ‘at the last minute’.

All of those sentenced to prison had spent more than a month on remand, and so were free to go. The case in Boulogne-sur-Mer related to trouble around the ‘Spirit of Britain’ ferry on January 23.

Home: All the migrants arrested following the protest were based in The Jungle, the vast refugee camp in Calais where up to 4,000 people live as they try to get aboard ferries and trains heading for the UK

Around 2,000 people were involved in the protest which descended into chaos, as 24 migrants and 11 No Border members were arrested.

Everything was planned for an invasion of the Calais ferry port Jean-Pierre Valensi, prosecuting

All the migrants arrested were based in The Jungle, the vast refugee camp in Calais where up to 4,000 people live as they try to get aboard ferries and trains heading for the UK.

The French authorities are determined to get rid of it, and have ordered a large part of it to be destroyed later this week.

This evacuation will affect around 2,000 refugees living in a makeshift huts and tens.

They are being told to move to asylum centres in other parts of France, or into refitted ship containers put up in an alternative ‘official’ camp in Calais.

Support: At the weekend, celebrities including actor Jude Law (above) were among those campaigning on behalf of the migrants, many of whom come from war-torn countries including Syria and Afghanistan

Bulldozers accompanied by Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS) riot police are expected to move in on Wednesday, but a number of charities have challenged them in court.

They say the migrants do not want to live in the ship containers, because they resemble a prison, and require refugees to provide fingerprints for security scanners allowing entry.

They do not want to go to other parts of France, either, because they are only interested in settling in the UK.