Industrial action closes Port of Calais

Freight bosses have called for troops and police in France to step in to protect hauliers.

It comes as travel across Kent is disrupted for a third day, because of strikes by French workers which have closed the port of Calais.

Five thousand lorries are stuck on the M20 because of Operation Stack - amid fears that disruption could now stretch beyond Thursday.

Meanwhile thousands of bottles of water and hundreds of meals have been handed out to lorry drivers, some of whom have been in queues for 48, long, hot hours.

Food and water were being distributed to lorry drivers stranded on what could be the hottest day of the year as protesters continued to cripple cross-Channel services.

British Coastguard teams were drafted in to relieve drivers in huge tailbacks caused by striking ferry workers who closed the Port of Calais stacked up on the M20 in Kent.

Ferry services to and from Dover have been affected, while the Channel Tunnel reopened yesterday afternoon following a three-hour shut down.

Kent Police has implemented Phase 3 of Operation Stack, where freight traffic is held on the coastbound carriageway of the M20.

Food and water were being distributed to lorry drivers stranded on what could be the hottest day of the year as protesters continued to cripple cross-Channel services.

The UK Coastguard is currently assisting Kent Police after Phase 3 of Operation Stack was implemented and temperatures have soared.

Birling gap, Bexhill, Dungeness, Langdon, Margate and Sheppy Coastguard Rescue Teams are all helping with the distribution of food and water to lorry drivers who are currently queuing on the M20, Kent.

Delays are due to continue and the port of Calais is expected to remain closed until Thursday, due to industrial action.

Julia and Chris Timbrell from Wiltshire were stuck in Eurotunnel for two hours.

They posted this video of how they coped in the hot conditions.

Eurostar will be running a reduced service for the rest of today as striking French ferry workers who were blocking the Channel Tunnel have been cleared from the site.

A spokesman from Eurostar told ITV News that the following trains will run today:

St Pancras - Paris 9036 – 15.31 9040 – 16.22 9050 – 19.01 9054 – 20.01

Paris – St Pancras 9047 – 17.13 9053 – 18.43 9059 – 20.13 9063 – 21.13

St Pancras - Brussels 9140 – 15.04 9158 – 19.34

Brussels – St Pancras 9149 – 16.56 9161 – 19.52

Passengers with a ticket for these trains should arrive at the station as normal, allowing plenty of time for check-in.

Those who were booked onto a train cancelled today will need to rebook their ticket before travelling, through Eurostar.com

The P&O Ferries boss has launched a withering attack on the French and British government as well as Eurotunnel. P&O Ferries chief executive Helen Deeble blamed Eurotunnel for putting passengers in the middle of an industrial relations battle by not securing the jobs of workers involved.

A blockade by striking ferry workers in Calais has left "the local environment is in chaos ... there is gridlock", according to a Eurotunnel spokesman.

He said that in recent days the pattern of migrant activity has spread from attacking trucks on motorways to trying to access the terminal.

He said: "There are migrants everywhere which means we have to control the trucks before they get to the site."