Every day, thousands of migrants attempt to make their way into Europe by sailing across the Mediterranean in tiny boats, while hundreds more will attempt to walk here from Russia.

And now thousands more are travelling across the continent by bike after being driven from their homes in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq by war and grinding poverty.

Fleeing the Middle East, they enter Europe through Turkey, going across Greece and into Macedonia, before heading towards wealthy northern states such as Germany and Britain.

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Pedal power: Thousands of migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are using bikes to travel across Europe as they flee war and poverty in their home countries for wealthy northern European states

Tough going: Hundreds of desperate refugees and migrants line the roads in Macedonia (pictured) as they use mountain bikes to cross the country

Pushed to it: While many of these migrants will have used boats, trains and cars to get this far, in Macedonia they are banned from public transport, meaning they use bikes instead

While their journey from their home countries will have seen them largely travel by car, train and boat, once in Macedonia they are prohibited from buying tickets on public transport.

Many opt to walk, following train tracks north, but three weeks ago 14 people were killed by a train after stopping to rest on the tracks in a narrow gorge, making others fearful.

Enterprising Macedonian citizens have set up stalls along their border with Greece, selling bikes to the migrants for between $160 and $225

As a result Macedonian citizens looking to make a quick profit decided to set up stalls along the border with Greece, selling bikes to help make the journey easier.

Now, hundreds of migrants can be seen pedalling their way along Macedonia's highways, stopping to rest on grass verges or underneath bridges as they go.

In a blog for news agency Afp, Robert Atanasovski writes that bikes are sold for between $169 and $225, before being abandoned once they reach the border to Serbia.

He says: 'The bicycles abandoned in Kumanovo are gathered up and ferried back to Demir Kapija, to be sold on to the next wave of clandestine migrants arriving from Greece.

'The Macedonian police turn a blind eye to these migrant cyclists and pedestrians - preferring to focus their efforts on people-smuggling networks.

'Macedonia is on the so-called Balkan road used to traffic everything from human beings to drugs and weapons.'

According to border agency Fortex, the number of migrants arriving on the so-called Eastern Mediterranean route, via Turkey from the Middle East, has reached 48,000 this year alone.

Authorities in Macedonia say the number of migrants crossing their border has quadrupled in the past four months as the crisis intensifies across Europe.

Angry clashes have taken place between police and demonstrating migrants, with many being forced into vans in front of screaming children after being denied entry to Italy.

The migrants are a common sight along the route through Macedonia to Serbia, resting under bridges (pictured) or on grassy verges at the side of the road

Once they reach Serbia, the bikes are left next to the border, and rumour has it that they are collected and transported back south to sell to the next wave

According to border agency Frontex, 48,000 people have made their way into Europe through Turkey and Greece in the last year alone as the migration crisis escalates

Hundreds more have been pictured sleeping on the rocky seafront beside the Saint Ludovic border crossing as they await news on where they can travel next.

European Union leaders agreed on the need for urgent action after a migrant boat travelling from Libya to the island of Lampedusa sank two months ago, killing 900.

However,officials have been unable to agree on the form that action should take, and as a result tens of thousands of migrants have been left in limbo.

Macedonian authorities estimate that the numbers crossing their borders has quadrupled in the last four months, with many migrants heading to wealthy northern states such as Germany and Britain

A group of men with a child rest along the side of a highway in Macedonia. According to reports, the migrants often buy the bikes in order to let youngsters rest on them while they push

While European leaders have all agreed on the need for urgent action to tackle the growing migration crisis, the form that action will take has yet to be decided (pictured, migrants use bike to cross Macedonia)

Migrants ride bikes, which they likely bought along the Greek broder from locals, along a highway in Macedonia, 30 miles southwest of the capital Skopje

Meanwhile anti-riot police in Calais have been deployed to stop migrants climbing into trucks headed to Britain, just days after hundreds were pictured mobbing a lorry, before several opened the back doors an climbed inside.

The police have been deployed a week after nine men, believed to be migrants, cut their way out of a lorry while it was waiting in traffic in the Cotslwolds before trying to flee.

Refusing to wait for a political solution, Hungary has announced it is building a 13ft-high, 110-mile fence along its border with Serbia to stop the flow of migrants, many of whom will have cycled through Macedonia to get there.

The new images emerged as riot police were deployed in Calais today to stop migrants from boarding trucks heading for Britain

Police in France order migrants out of a lorry waiting to board a ferry in the port of Calais as politicians warn the crisis is in danger of getting out of control

Meanwhile, hundreds more migrants are camping on rocks near the Saint Ludovic border crossing between France and Italy as they wait for news on where they can go next