Farmer Chris Gadsden, 60, has been dubbed 'The Farminator' after rounding up suspected illegal immigrants hidden in his Bedfordshire fields

A farmer is taking the migrant crisis into his own hands by rounding up 'hundreds' of suspected stowaways who he claims are hiding in his fields.

Chris Gadsden, who lives 125 miles away from Dover, says he has collared up to 50 migrants in the past month alone as part of his one-man patrol on his land in rural Bedfordshire.

The 60-year-old claims the suspected illegal immigrants traipse through his land after being dropped off at the nearby M1 services, which are 400 yards away.

Mr Gadsden - who found one man hiding in a drain pipe - then rounds up the alleged criminals before handing them over to police and even sometimes driving them to the station himself.

The father-of-four said the sheer number of suspected illegal immigrants on his land - which he said included 30 Somalis just last week - demonstrates how quickly the problem is spreading into the British countryside.

He said: 'There’s been hundreds of them, and they’re just the ones I’ve seen. There’s supposed to be a system in place to stop them sneaking in but it obviously isn’t working, so I have to do what I can.

'It’s not a race thing. My problem is they’re sneaking in and breaking our laws. If anyone, no matter where they’re from, was trespassing on my property I’d react the same. It’s been going on for years now.

'They have been invading our privacy and I’m proud to have done something about it. It feels like the authorities have lost control of the situation in Calais – and now they’re in danger of the same thing happening hundreds of miles away in Bedfordshire.'

Mr Gadsden said he has sympathy for the immigrants and regularly gives them a drink and something to eat while they wait to be questioned by officers.

But he said he has sometimes had to tie the detainees up with rope for his own protection.

He was also forced to brandish his shotgun when he was confronted by 30 suspected illegal immigrants at his own home.

Mr Gadsden told MailOnline: 'I have lived here since 1987. In the past they were in groups of five or six but since Christmas time there has been a steady increase and the groups are larger. In these last two or three weeks we have had a massive influx.

'I would say that without a shadow of a doubt I have dealt with over a hundred people here.

'Sometimes the helicopter is up if someone has reported them from the services and I know to look out for them. Then they are running and hiding.

'Sometimes we have picked them up from where they have been hiding. Other times we have noticed them ourselves and notified the police.'

Mr Gadsden, who lives in 125 miles away from Dover, says he has found more than 50 suspected migrants (pictured) on his land in rural Bedfordshire in the past month, including a man that was hiding in his drain

He said the suspected immigrants tend to flee from the lorries when they are dropped off at the Toddington Services on the northbound M1, one of the first stops for truckers coming from the Port of Dover

Mr Gadsden, who has been dubbed the Farminator over his actions, claims his hometown of Toddington has become a 'regular stop-off' for immigrants.

He said they flee from lorries when they are dropped at the Toddington Services on the northbound M1 before walking through his land in a bid to illegally enter the UK.

The service station is one of the first stops for lorry drivers coming from the Port of Dover.

Most of the time, Mr Gadsden said he takes the suspected illegal immigrants back to his house. But he said that, on one occasion, a large group turned up at his property, looking for one of the people he had arrested.

When they pushed past him, he claims that he was forced to get his gun out.

He told The Sun: 'It's frightening not knowing who's out there and what their intentions are. But they're usually more frightened of me and I know how to look after myself.

'Most of them just sit in the garden and wait for officers to arrive. We give them a drink and something to eat.'

Mr Gadsden ten acre farm is situated some 400 yards from the M1 Toddington services (shown in map)

AID AGENCIES WARN OF RISING MIGRANT NUMBERS IN CALAIS Aid agencies have warned that the problem of migrants camping out in Calais before trying to reach Britain has reached a new level of crisis. Volunteers say their numbers in the French port have swollen from around 1,000 in April to 3,000 in month - and could rise to 4,000 in the coming weeks. Dozens of migrants live in dilapidated barns and makeshift tents in the area, known locally as the Jungle, as they wait to cross into Dover in an attempt to start a life in the UK. Maya Konfortin, a volunteer for l'Auberge des Migrants, told the Sunday Telegraph the figure was 'definitely climbing'. She anticipated might turn up before August as better weather makes crossing the Mediterranean easier. Meanwhile a migrant shanty town is to be built near Calais with running water, electricity, toilets and prefabricated shelters. The £360,000 French-funded project is likely to be criticised for providing a ‘magnet’ for refugees headed to the UK. It is in response to criticism from the United Nations. Advertisement

This week, Mr Gadsden said he captured more than 30 Somalis after his wife Lianne, 57, spotted them walking on the land. He also tackled six Vietnamese men who were seen strolling across his fields, he claims - including one in his 20s found hiding in a drain.

Mr Gadsden said the man came out with his hands above his head and that he tied his hands up with dog rope because 'there was something suspicious about him.'

He said: 'When we see them they are disorientated. They don't know where they are. Their first words are normally "London' or "police". I dial 999 and they get taken in.

'When they got picked up the other day, they said: "Are we in Canada?"

'Generally they are more frightened of me than I am of them. The Vietnamese who hid in a drain was very frightened.

'In the winter we were on the motorway bridge and spotted four walking south on the northbound carriageway.'

He added: 'Of course I do have sympathy for them but they are abusing the system.'

Mr Gadsden, who has CCTV and dogs on his farm, said that the only time he got worried was on May 30, during the incident when around 30 migrants arrived in two minibuses.

He said: 'They parked at the gate and drove through to my house.

'They were here to pick others up. That’s the only time I’ve really felt intimidated.

'They were all trying to push past me, so I went inside and got my gun.

‘They got the message pretty quickly and cleared off. They couldn't speak English. They might have been picking up more illegal immigrants. They were either Albanian or Romanian.'

Mr Gadsden believes that not enough is being done to prevent the migrants coming in from the ports.

'The authorities in Calais have got a massive problem and the problem is moving here. We were told they were going to set up a direct line here to the police. That would be nice,' he said.

He also said Moto Hospitality, who run the services, should increase their security.

Bedfordshire Police admit the number of detainees stopped in the area has trebled since last year.

Last year, they stopped an average of 23 suspected illegal immigrants per month. But the force held 67 suspected illegal immigrants last month – and this month's total is already at nearly 40.

Police chief David Boyle said the force was aware of the increase in detainees and they would process them 'as quickly as possibly'.

He said: 'We recognise the increased number of detainees that we are dealing with in relation to suspected immigration offences.

'Bedfordshire's infrastructure and national and international transport links make it particularly susceptible to this type of call-out.

'Clearly this does have a degree of impact on our custody accommodation, however we have contingencies in place for such situations and work closely with Immigration Enforcement to process the detainees as quickly as possible.'

He added: 'This responsive level of close contact and cooperation within the partnership will continue.

'If we see increased demand in the longer term we will review these arrangements to ensure our core functions and service to the communities of Bedfordshire are not affected.'

There are estimated to be as many as 3,500 immigrants in detention at any one time in the UK. Officials stopped 36,000 UK-bound stowaways last year.