THE Mayor of Calais said she does not want the Nato fence dubbed the “ring of steel” shipped to France to combat illegal immigrants.

After the Nato Summit in September the three kilometre steel fence was sent to the French port.

But mayor Natacha Bouchart told the Home Affairs committee: “I do think that the frontier should be on British territory because it is up to you to decide whether or not you wish to welcome these migrants. Fences make everybody laugh. It will just push the problem back a few metres.”

Referring to Newport West’s Labour MP Paul Flynn, the committee chair had asked her: “Mr Cameron told me in the House of Commons that he has now sent you the fence the G8 summit was using in Mr Flynn’s constituency of Newport. We did not send Mr Flynn but we sent his fence to be built around the port. Is that enough for you or do you still think the border should be removed from Calais and brought back to Dover?”

Paul Flynn told her: “It is disappointing that the three kilometres of security fencing that kept Obama safe when he was in Newport, in my constituency, is of no value to you. How many kilometres of fencing would help and will the extra 100 police that are going there help as well, or is there no security solution?”

Ms Bouchart replied: “There are 100 extra police officers in Calais and that is probably good for the security of the port—that has been a good idea—but not for the security of the population. There are more and more accidents and incidents among the population. There are a lot of women being attacked and mothers in Calais don’t want to let their children out.”

She appeared before the committee on October 28 and the matter was discussed again last Tuesday.

Peter Cullum, the Road Haulage Association's head of international affairs, gave evidence saying the problem could be improved by speeding up the flow of traffic giving migrants less chance to jump on to vehicles.

Paul Flynn said: “There is clearly some kind of criminal setup there using people, possibly in the transport industry, in the police or somewhere else, certainly people of similar nationality to the migrants. Who are the people who are corrupt and who are making sure that people can get across?"

Peter Cullum said some companies had been found out and been taken to court with some jailed over the last 10 years. He said he now dealt with fewer cases of illegal immigrants boarding trucks from his members.

Mr Flynn questioned whether if Calais became migrant proof the problem would just move along the coast to other crossings.

Peter Cullum replied it was necessary to take some action, adding the Home Office had been active this year and compliance rates had gone up.