A lorry driver from Witham has described how he witnessed a group of migrants waiting to storm the Channel Tunnel in Calais on Tuesday night.

Les Muffett, 56, arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal in northern France just hours before hundreds of migrants successfully breached the fences.

He said: "When I got into Calais the migrants were everywhere, they were walking around like passengers.

"When we drove out the compound all these people were outside the gates waiting to come in. It was crazy. It's the first time I've seen that myself. It's the worst it's been."

The married father of one has been a lorry driver for over 30 years and drives from Essex to the Italian city of Milan every week.

He said: "So far I've been lucky. I haven't had any migrants in the lorry.

"It's scary because we don't know what will happen. A friend of mine was sitting in the queue and they cut his lorry open and got in.

"You can't confront them. They carry knives.

"All you can do is stay in the lorry, lock the cab up and let them get on with it.

"You can't put yourself in danger. We've got families at home and we've got to think about that."

Mr Muffett, who works for Youngs Transport Ltd in Purfleet, Essex, said the disruption caused by the crisis means he only gets one day off each week.

"The delays are bad," he explained. "I normally work five days, leaving on Tuesday night and coming back on Saturday. But now it's Sunday afternoon."

He also has the added worry of being fined if migrants are found in his lorry in the UK.

"With the UK side if you've still got an immigrant on board that the French haven't got off then you get the fines," he said. "It can cost you a lot of money."