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The mayor of Calais has vowed to trigger a 'diplomatic incident' with Britain over the thousands of illegal immigrants massed on the French coast.

She spoke as thousands of people took advantage of a wildcat ferry workers' strike today to crowd around lorries forced to queue outside the port town.

Migrants whose numbers in Calais have swelled to 4,000 were seen walking along motorways preparing to jump onto Dover-bound lorries.

Amid the chaos Eurostar trains were also suspended as striking port workers stormed the train terminal.

Furious Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart claims the UK has 'not offered a penny' to Calais to help the town manage its expanding migrant population.

She told France Info radio: "I demand a diplomatic incident with London over the presence of migrants in Calais.

(Image: Getty)

"Britain is turning its back on Europe and has not offered us a penny to help deal with this issue."

There are an estimated 4,000 migrants living in a vast camp outside Calais, hoping to sneak aboard lorries and ferries to Britain.

Mrs Bouchart also recently blamed Britain's 'black market economy' and 'cushy benefits system' for the illegal immigrant crisis in her town.

Ms Bouchart said: "They want to go to England because they can expect better conditions on arrival there than anywhere else in Europe or even internationally.

"There are no ID cards. They can easily find work outside the formal economy, which is not really controlled.

"Calais is a hostage to the British. The migrants come here to get to Britain.

(Image: BBC News/PA Wire)

"The situation here is barely manageable. The UK border should be moved from Calais to the English side of the Channel because we're not here to do their jobs."

Aid workers have warned of 'catastrophic' scenes and claim it would be easy for European nations to absorb refugees, including from war-torn Syria and Afghanistan.

The government has agreed to take 500 Syrian refugees over three years and David Cameron agreed to expand the figure by 'a few hundred' on Friday.

But the government - which is desperately trying to keep migrant numbers down - insists many other migrants are moving for work and should only be allowed in if they have certain skills.

(Image: PA)

Britain's ambassador to France Sir Peter Rickets was asked to respond to Mrs Bouchart's accusations by local paper a Voix du Nord.

He replied: "We understand the pressure Calais in under and we have been working for months with the French authorities to improve this situation.

"We put 15 million euros on the table to improve the security and smooth-running of the port.

"At the request of France, British officials are in direct contact with the migrants to explain to them that the UK is not an El Dorado, and we have tightened the rules on benefits and working illegally."