Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, stand in front of tyres set on fire as they block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
(
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
)
British holidaymakers and lorry-drivers trying to cross the channel are being confronted with chaos thanks to a strike that had closed the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel.
Striking French ferry workers blockaded the French port with a wall of flaming tyres, before forcing the closure of the Channel Tunnel by getting on to the tracks.
All ferries between Dover and Calais have been suspended thanks to the wildcat action by MyFerryLink workers, which started at 3.50am on Tuesday.
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This afternoon, they forced the closure of the Channel Tunnel, invading the tracks. Eurostar services were subject to delays and cancellations because trains are stuck outside the tunnel, while Eurotunnel services are operating with disruptions of up to 2.5 hours following earlier closures, Sky News has reported.
Eurostar tweeted that services will resume tomorrow after engineers repair fire-damaged tracks overnight.
Traffic jams built up on both sides of the channel, with delays on other cross-channel ferry routes such as Dover to Dunkirk.
Around 600 MyFerryLink – formerly SeaFrance - workers are at risk of losing their jobs on July 2 following the decision by Eurotunnel to end its partnership with the company.
In pictures: Calais crisis
Show all 15
In pictures: Calais crisis
1/15 Calais crisis
Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais
Getty Images
2/15 Calais crisis
Protesting French employees of the company English Channel passenger and freight ferry company "MyFerryLink" block the railway tracks of the Eurostar Channel tunnel line in Calais
Getty Images
3/15 Calais crisis
Protesting French employees of the company English Channel passenger and freight ferry company "MyFerryLink" block the railway tracks of the Eurostar Channel tunnel line with a burning plastic barrier
4/15 Calais crisis
French riot police officers drive out protesting French employees of the freight ferry company MyFerryLink
Getty Images
5/15 Calais crisis
French riot police take position to drive out protesters blocking the railway tracks
Getty Images
6/15 Calais crisis
Passengers stranded by the cancellation of Eurostar trains wait at St. Pancras station in London. Eurostar said it has canceled all passenger trains through the tunnel that links France and England, after striking ferry workers swarmed the train line setting tires alight
7/15 Calais crisis
Passengers sit on stairs after being stranded by cancelled Eurostar trains at St. Pancras station in London
8/15 Calais crisis
A police vehicle drives past lorries are backed up on the M20 motorway which leads from London to the Channel Tunnel terminal at Ashford and the Ferry Terminal at Dover
9/15 Calais crisis
Trucks queue up as part of Operation Stack in Dover
10/15 Calais crisis
Cars queue to board a ferry in Dover bound for Dunkirk, France, as the disruption at Calais looks set to enter a second day as migrants continue to target lorries in a bid to cross into the UK
11/15 Calais crisis
A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
12/15 Calais crisis
Migrants wait near the A16 highway as they try to access the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
13/15 Calais crisis
Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, stand in front of tyres set on fire as they block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
14/15 Calais crisis
A striking employee of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, sits on a tyre in front of tyres set on fire as he takes part in a blockade of the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
15/15 Calais crisis
Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, prepare to set tyres on fire to block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
1/15 Calais crisis
Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais
Getty Images
2/15 Calais crisis
Protesting French employees of the company English Channel passenger and freight ferry company "MyFerryLink" block the railway tracks of the Eurostar Channel tunnel line in Calais
Getty Images
3/15 Calais crisis
Protesting French employees of the company English Channel passenger and freight ferry company "MyFerryLink" block the railway tracks of the Eurostar Channel tunnel line with a burning plastic barrier
4/15 Calais crisis
French riot police officers drive out protesting French employees of the freight ferry company MyFerryLink
Getty Images
5/15 Calais crisis
French riot police take position to drive out protesters blocking the railway tracks
Getty Images
6/15 Calais crisis
Passengers stranded by the cancellation of Eurostar trains wait at St. Pancras station in London. Eurostar said it has canceled all passenger trains through the tunnel that links France and England, after striking ferry workers swarmed the train line setting tires alight
7/15 Calais crisis
Passengers sit on stairs after being stranded by cancelled Eurostar trains at St. Pancras station in London
8/15 Calais crisis
A police vehicle drives past lorries are backed up on the M20 motorway which leads from London to the Channel Tunnel terminal at Ashford and the Ferry Terminal at Dover
9/15 Calais crisis
Trucks queue up as part of Operation Stack in Dover
10/15 Calais crisis
Cars queue to board a ferry in Dover bound for Dunkirk, France, as the disruption at Calais looks set to enter a second day as migrants continue to target lorries in a bid to cross into the UK
11/15 Calais crisis
A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
12/15 Calais crisis
Migrants wait near the A16 highway as they try to access the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
13/15 Calais crisis
Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, stand in front of tyres set on fire as they block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
14/15 Calais crisis
A striking employee of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, sits on a tyre in front of tyres set on fire as he takes part in a blockade of the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
15/15 Calais crisis
Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, prepare to set tyres on fire to block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
Tunnel bosses decided to abort crossings in the afternoon "for safety reasons" after strikers got on to the tracks, a spokesman for Eurotunnel said.
A spokesman for Eurostar said: "[Protesters] have broken into the tunnel and the tunnel is shut.
"As far as we know we don't have any trains in the tunnel at the moment but some are having to wait on either side of the tunnel.
"There will be delays to our services. At the moment we are extremely constrained."
Some of the 3,000 migrants camped at Calais are reportedly trying to exploit the strike by jumping on to slow-going lorries.
Drivers have been told to avoid Calais altogether, as striking workers set the road on fire and a queue of 500-600 vehicles waiting to use the Eurotunnel to get to the British side of the channel.
MyFerryLink vessels are blocking the port and preventing other services, run by P&O and DFDS Seaways, from getting through. But DFDS services from Dover to Dunkirk are still running, a spokesman for the Port of Dover said.
A striking employee sits on a tyre in front of tyres set on fire as he takes part in a blockade
He added: "We will continue to monitor the situation closely in liaison with our ferry partners and the Port of Calais in order to resume normal operations as soon as possible."
The action is expected to last until 8pm local time (7pm in Britain), a spokesman for Eurotunnel said. But officials at the Port of Dover said that delays and jams are likely to continue until later while the backlog is cleared. Customers are advised to check with their ferry companies about disruption before setting off.
Operation Stack - where freight traffic is held on the coastbound carriageway of the M20 – has been implemented as queues began to build up on approaches to the Port of Dover.
Migrants wait near the A16 highway as they try to access the Channel Tunnel in Calais (Getty)
A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants
A British lorry driver, Chris Cary, from Rochester who works for MJD Group in Dartford, posted a photo from Calais to Twitter early on Tuesday morning, showing a road apparently alight with burning tires.
Helen Deeble, chief executive of P&O Ferries, blamed the strike on a failure by Eurotunnel and DFDS to “engage constructively” with MyFerryLink staff.
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Travel chaos deepens as striking French workers close port of Calais
1/4
Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link, a cross-channel ferry service, stand in front of tyres set on fire as they block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, northern France
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
2/4
A striking employee sits on a tyre in front of tyres set on fire as he takes part in a blockade
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
3/4
Migrants wait near the A16 highway as they try to access the Channel Tunnel in Calais
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