Coinciding with UK's Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn's arrival at the French refugee camps, Sky News reports the port of Calais has been temporarily closed as 100s of migrants stormed on to a ship in the hope of reaching the UK. About 50 migrants are thought to have made their way on to a P&O-operated vessel called Spirit of Britain, and police are at the scene and have reportedly deployed water cannons to break up the crowds of protesters.
DFDS Seaways tweeted: "The Port of Calais has been temporarily closed due to a migrant invasion, as soon as they are cleared the Port will re-open."
The shut-down follows a protest march in support of the migrants that was reportedly attended by 2,000 people.
Authorities in France said a group of 500 people illegally forced their way through barriers and police lines, 150 migrants were able to get into the cordoned-off area.
?URGENT CALAIS 62 :Débordements à Calais. Le port de Calais pris d'assaut par plus de 500 migrants. (@plusde6) pic.twitter.com/8d9Ov2JGli
— Infos Française (@InfosFrancaise) January 23, 2016
A statement from the Port of Dover said: "The Port of Calais is currently experiencing migrant activity which has caused disruption to ferry services. Therefore services to and from Calais via the Port of Dover are affected."
The latest incident coincides with Jeremy Corybn's visit to the migrant camps in Calais and Dunkirk where thousands of people are sleeping rough - his first foreign trip as Labour leader.
He said the conditions would be a "disgrace anywhere" - and that thousands of people were living in a "sea of mud".