Migrant crisis will last ALL summer, warns Cameron as he sends sniffer dogs and fencing to Calais and opens Kent barracks to hold lorries

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David Cameron today promised to send extra sniffer dogs and fencing to Calais as he admitted the migrant crisis in Calais will last all summer. 

Army barracks in Kent will also be used as a lorry car park to relieve some of travel chaos on the M20 and extra ferry crossings could be laid on to prevent family holidays being disrupted.

It came after another night of chaos in Calais, as France police with batons and tear gas fought a losing battle against hundreds of desperate migrants trying to storm the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.

As pictures emerged of migrants clinging to the roof of a lorry as it arrived in Britain this morning, there were warnings that the crisis will spread to other parts of the country.

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David Cameron today promised to send extra sniffer dogs and fencing to Calais as he admitted the migrant crisis in Calais will last all summer

Mr Cameron convened a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee this morning after returning from a four-day tour of the Far East.

He said a team of senior ministers will lead the response the crisis, vowing: 'We rule nothing out in taking action to deal with this very serious problem.

'We are absolutely on it. We know it needs more work,' he added.

The hour-long Cobra meeting was attended by Business Secretary Sajid Javid, Home Secretary Theresa May, Communities Secretary Greg Clarke, skills minister Nick Boles, armed forces minister Penny Mordaunt and Africa minister Grant Shapps.

Mr Cameron will have talks with French President Francois Hollande later. 

Speaking in Downing Street this morning, Mr Cameron said: 'This is going to be a difficult issue right across the summer.

'We've got people trying to illegally enter our country and here in Britain we've got lorry drivers and holidaymakers facing potential delays. We are going to take action right across the board.

'Starting with helping the French on their side of the border we are going to put in more fencing, more resources, more sniffer dog teams, more assistance in any way we can in terms of resources.'

The British government has resisted calls to send troops to Calais to take control of security after repeated attempts by migrants to storm the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.

Instead, Mr Cameron announced plans for the Ministry of Defence to use assets on British soil to alleviate some of the pressure.

Thousands of lorries have spent days stuck on the M20 in Operation Stack, which has seen police close the motorway in both directions - costing the UK economy up to £250million a day.  

The Prime Minister said: 'Here in Kent we need to do more to help lorry drivers and holidaymakers.

'We are going to do everything we can to reduce the disruption including using MoD land and we will be looking at other options we can take as well.' 

It could see trucks redirected to Sir John Moore Barracks in Shorncliffe, Folkestone, or the headquarters of 3rd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment in Canterbury. The former RAF base at Manston could also be used.

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association told BBC News: 'Quite simply the measures I've just heard from David Cameron aren't enough, they are just sticking plasters in terms of trying to resolve this problem.

'The threats these hauliers are facing every day is unacceptable. The impact financially on the haulage industry and the broader UK economy is unbelievable.

'Until we get the right measures in place and until we actually contain the situation in Calais with the migrants, this situation is a crisis and it's out of control. I really don't think these measures are enough right now.'

Philippe Mignonet, deputy mayor of Calais, accused the Prime Minister of being 'racist' and 'ignorant', warning him that the number of refugees in the French city is likely to double to 10,000

He told Channel 5 News the Prime Minister's comments on 'swarms' of migrants in Calais were: 'Racist words or extremist words – I just can't accept them.'

He added: 'It's always the same: the French authorities are always blamed for what's happening around the tunnel, around the port [and] in the city.

'If one day they have 10,000 [migrants] that will be a bloody disaster for them first and for the city afterwards. It's already a disaster, an economic disaster for the city.'

On British soil: Two migrants cling to the roof of a freight truck as it leaves the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone in the early hours of this morning

Deadly battle: Nine people have now died trying to get to the UK in the past month as they throw themselves at trains and lorries heading through the Channel Tunnel

Desperate measures: Yesterday evening a young migrant pulls a young girl over a barbed wire fence before helping her drop to the ground close to the high speed tracks

The Prime Minister has faced criticism for the government's response to the problem and has been urged to use diplomatic pressure to force France to get a grip.

But senior Tories have warned that Paris could tear up a cross-Channel agreement to have British immigration checks carried out in France, which would see the border move from Calais to Kent.

Mr Cameron added: 'I will be speaking with President Hollande later today. 

'I want to thank him for the extra French police resources that have been put in that have had some effect but we are keen to offer more and work hand in glove with them to reduce the pressure on that side of the border.'

Today's meeting followed a fourth night of chaos in Calais as hundreds of migrants they tried to get to trains and lorries heading to the UK.

Prime Minister David Cameron returned to Downing Street this morning to chair a Cobra meeting on the Calais crisis

At one point a man dragged a young child over a barbed wire fence with him while nearby a mother and her six-year-old child clutching a teddy bear were seen crawling through a hole in a fence.

Last night groups again managed to get through the Channel Tunnel - up to 200 in four nights - after a day where police were stretched to breaking point with the number of stowaways in lorries. One even risked his life by hiding under a horsebox for two hours.

A dozen were found stashed in the back of a beer truck on the M20 near Ashford yesterday afternoon while groups were also held across Kent, Sussex and even at M25 services. Three men were seen slashing a hole in the canvas side of a lorry and running away in Stourbridge, West Midlands.

Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Keith Vaz said: 'This is a real crisis and it is a crisis that in the end is going to affect not just the South East of England but also every part of the country.' 

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw said the borderless system in Europe known as the Schengen agreement, was at the heart of the problem.

He told BBC Radio 4's World at One: 'The fundamental problem arises obviously from very, very serious dislocation in countries like Syria, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.

'There's another issue, although whether the EU is willing to tackle it or not I frankly doubt, which is that the Schengen no borders arrangement, which is that within the Schengen area which is most of continental Europe they don't have any internal borders, was only ever going to work in good times.

'You now see the price that Europe is paying, as well as the United Kingdom is paying for this completely open border arrangement.

'They need to face up to the consequences of Schengen. My understanding is there is provision in Schengen to reinstitute border controls if it is necessary.'

Calais police union representative Gilles Debove told the programme: 'There's a real attraction for the migrants to go to the UK. There are several appealing factors.

'Firstly, in Great Britain, the migrants can work without a residency permit or identity card and they can work illegal.

'In France, we have a police force trained to fight against such illegal work and in the UK you don't have any police force tracking these people who work in the black market.' 

Losing battle: Police in France were again outnumbers as huge groups of migrants broke through their lines to get near the trains and lorries

Escape:  ITV's Good Morning Britain obtained this footage of a group of three migrants slashing the side of a lorry and then clambering out in the West Midlands 

Mr Cameron admitted the crisis 'has been foreseeable' but insisted that the government has taken action. 

'That's why we have the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, that's why we're investing in north African countries to stabilise them, that's why we're part of the European operations to deal with the migrant crisis at source,' he said.

'It's also why we've already spent millions of pounds building better fences on the French side of the tunnel and investing in our border and security efforts. 

'But, you know, this is a very big and complex problem we face, stretching all the way from north and the middle of Africa right to our own country. 

'We're taking action across the board and will continue to do that right across this summer. 

'But it is going to be difficult; people can see the enormous pressures that the French side of the border is on, and that's why we're going to work so closely with them - more dogs to make sure there's 24-hour cover, more fencing, more resources, more policing if necessary - all the things that can be done will be done to stop people illegally entering our country and to make the situation better for the lorry drivers and the holidaymakers who face potential delays.' 

The Prime Minister was careful not to repeat his use of the word 'swarm' to describe hundreds of migrants in Calais after being accused of 'dog whistle' politics.

Labour's acting leader Harriet Harman said the Prime Minister should remember he is talking about 'people, not insects' as tensions mounted over the government's response to the crisis.

But political opponents accused him of 'dog-whistle' politics and the Refugee Council condemned the 'awful, dehumanising language'.

Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham wrote on Twitter: 'Cameron calling Calais migrants a 'swarm' is nothing short of disgraceful.

'Confirms there's no dog-whistle these Bullingdon Boys won't blow.' 

The Refugee Council described Mr Cameron's remark as 'awful, dehumanising language from a world leader'. 

Ministry of Defence barracks will be used as a lorry car park to relieve some of travel chaos triggered by the migrant crisis in Calais

A plan to allevative queues on the M20 could see trucks redirected to Sir John Moore Barracks in Folkestone (pictured), home to the Royal Gurkha Rifles

Kevin Hurley, who is the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, said the Calais migrant crisis was placing a huge strain on resources and putting public safety at risk.

He revealed that 156 suspected illegal immigrants had been detained at one M25 services alone in the past three months, but scores more had escaped before police could hold them.

He added that he was in 'no doubt' that thousands more have vanished after jumping off lorries at motorway services across the South East, particularly those on the M25 and linked motorways.

'This is an escalating problem and the police cannot cope,' the former Scotland Yard commander told the Mail. 'The public are being put at risk as a result of this complete failure to secure our borders. It is a national scandal.

Police discover a group of 12 suspected illegal immigrants hiding in the back of a haulage lorry travelling northbound on the M20, Kent.