French minister says UK police should help in Calais

France's interior minister says British police should be sent to Calais to help dissuade would-be illegal immigrants from trying to cross the channel.

Bernard Cazeneuve told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It would be very useful to have more policemen here, and we try to find a way of being in a common system here concerning police

He said the UK and France had to work together to find a resolution.

Shadow immigration minister David Hanson has said France needs to do more to tackle immigrants travelling to Calais.

The Labour MP said immigration was a "Europe-wide problem" but said the French authorities needed to take more action to identify which countries the immigrants were coming from and their circumstances.

The situation in Calais is "completely untenable", David Hanson, Labour's shadow immigration minister has said.

Responding to the Mayor of Calais's appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee, the MP said the Government should be doing more to tackle the "illegal route" into the UK.

But he said Natacha Bouchart needed to "acknowledge the role the French authorities should be playing to solve this problem".

He said: "If, as she claims, the people camped in Calais are not asylum seekers, why is the French Government not seeking to deport them?

“Of course we should be aiming for a European-wide approach to remove the migrant camp at Calais – there are serious questions about how people are able to cross Europe without being apprehended and end up at the border in the first place?

"But it is not good enough for the Mayor of Calais to seek to wash her hands of this problem and seek to simply move the border to Dover.”

The Mayor of Calais said today that some 2,500 illegal migrants had come to her town with the sole aim of getting to Britain.

Natasha Bouchart told MPs that they were drawn by "a much more favourable benefit regime than in any other country".

Agreeing that Britain was seen as a "soft touch," she said the wanted the problem, and the border, moved back to Britain.

ITV News' International Affairs Editor Rageh Omaar reports from Calais:

• Calais migrants believe UK is 'Eldorado fairytale'

The Home Office said they were working with France to improve security at Calais, and have provided security fences, which should be installed in the next few weeks.

Responding to criticisms from the mayor of Calais, Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire said:

Read: Mayor of Calais says 2,000 migrants are trying to get into the UK

MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee have asked the mayor of Calais to ask her president to make the benefits system for immigrants in France faster, more effective and less hostile for new claimants.

They said the amount immigrants in the UK are entitled to is lower than France but the system is easier to navigate. She said:

MPs are challenging the mayor of Calais on her views that the benefits system in England are "too favourable" for immigrants, and are encouraging others to attempt the dangerous crossing from Calais to Dover.

Natacha Bouchart said those in Calais are speaking to those in England and are hearing that they can easily work illegally, and presenting the UK as an "Eldorado fairytale".

Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said the residents of her city have the right to "live in peace" from the threat posed by the immigrant population attempting to enter the UK.

She said recently the migrant population has changed to become more violent, containing a lot more people who have been trafficked into France, and those involved in organised crime. She said:

She also said the criminal gangs in Calais are often linked to gangs within the UK.

The Mayor of Calais, who is facing MPs from the Home Affairs Select Committee said migrants arecausing problems for the citizens of her city, in their determination to enter the UK.

Asked where the migrants are from, she listed the following countries:

• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Sudan
• Egypt
• Lebanese
• Syria
• Iran
• Iraq

The mayor stressed that the majority of the migrants did not want to settle in France and rather wished to make the journey to the UK. She said, "people are ready to die to enter England".

The mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart is appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee to answer questions on the migrant crisis her city has been facing since the forced closure of makeshift immigrant camps.

She said that approximately 2,000 migrants in Calais are currently trying to get into the UK.