The Road Haulage Association (RHA) is accusing the French authorities of still not doing enough to protect hauliers driving into Ouistreham, near Caen.

The RHA warns of a deteriorating situation in the Normandy port after social media videos emerged in August showing gangs of migrants breaking into moving lorries bound for the UK, despite the police pursuing them.

Commenting, RHA Chief Executive Richard Burnett said, “Since the Calais Jungle was closed in 2016, migrants, with the sole intention of reaching the UK by whatever means possible, are now focussing their attentions on another coastal weak point, the town of Ouistreham.”

He continued, “The scene there is now chaotic. As in Calais, lorry drivers run a gauntlet of threats and violence 24/7 as they approach the port and each day it’s getting worse. The French authorities need to get a grip of this crisis, and quickly, before one of these attempts ends in tragedy – for either a migrant or for a UK-bound HGV driver that just wants to do their job.”

Recently a group of migrants were found in the back of a refrigerated lorry some 350 miles from Calais. Police were called after the driver heard noise coming from the trailer, which was parked near Dijon in eastern France.

The discovery was all the more remarkable as temperatures in the trailer were minus 25 degrees Celsius. Even the freezing conditions didn’t deter the group, which clearly demonstrates the huge risks some people will take to reach the UK.