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Violent gangs of immigrants are attacking drivers at Calais
Page 9
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UK OPERATORS WARN that drivers are being threatened by would-be stowaways at Calais and are calling on the French and UK authorities to take action. However the Home Office says the authorities are doing all they can.
John MacConnachie. transport manager at Wisbech,Cambs-based Robinson'sTransport,believes the problem with illegal immigrants is getting much worse. "Gangs of immigrants throw stones and abuse the drivers." he says.
MacConnachie says his drivers are now scared to buy diesel near Calais because they are threatened by gangs, of up to 20 people.
Neville Brooker, operations director at Heritage International Transport, warns drivers that it is dangerous at Calais: the company has a rule that trucks within three miles of the port should only stop in secure parking sites:If we have to slow down on the way into the port then they hang on the underneath of the truck."
Derek Linch. owner of Derek Linch Haulage, confirms that his drivers h ave also had problems with illegal immigrants. As a result of that, and poor rates, he is no longer sending many trucks abroad.
A Home Office spokesman says: "French ministers have agreed to increase security at the border, not step backwards."
• The Freight Transport Association has spoken out against the French authorities at Calais,which have banned the use of electronic scanning equipment designed to detect illegal immigrants in trucks that are heading for the UK.
Geoff Dossetter, the FTA's director of external affairs, concludes: "Illegal immigrants seeking to reach the UK from Calais and elsewhere in northern France continue to be a major problem for British and other drivers crossing the Channel.
"Those drivers look for the UK and French governments to provide security for lorry drivers and their vehicles in order to prevent the carriage of illegal immigrants into the UK."