Transport Minister Chris Grayling has been banned from Calais after a spat with the French port’s chairman over plans for a no-deal Brexit.

The Tory MP has been accused of being disrespectful over his plans to divert ships away from the port in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Port chairman Jean-Marc Puissesseau has told Mr Grayling he is no longer welcome in Calais as he claimed the politician had given no warning of government plans to “bypass” the town.

Mr Grayling is planning to divert goods to the Belgian port of Ostend in a move that has outraged Calais officials.

Mr Puissesseau said: “Mr Grayling came to us in November and asked us if we would be ready.

“We told him 'yes', though we did not know as much as we know today. He did not tell us that he wanted to reduce the activity.

“It is not fair at all, it is completely disrespectful. I don’t want to see him again.”

Mr Puissesseau had insisted before hand that a “traffic light” system would work and keep traffic between Dover and Calais running smoothly. The system consists of green for lorries with the right paperwork, orange for those who are not sure and red for those with no paperwork.

The chairman added: “We didn’t ask for Brexit, but we have spent the money for traffic to flow regularly.”

Mr Grayling has already faced heavy criticism for awarding a no-deal Brexit ferry contract worth £13.8million to Seaborne Freight, a firm that has no ships or trading history.