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(Express) BUILDING has begun on the huge blockade dubbed the ‘Great Wall of Calais’ - the 13ft high wall erected to prevent migrants from jumping onto UK-bound lorries.
The massive £2.5m wall, funded from the British public purse, will be completed by the end of the year, according to the Government.
Running 0.6 miles along the motorway leading to the French port at Calais, the wall has been designed to prevent stowaways getting into lorries or getting into the road.
The Home Office said the wall will stop migrants using projectiles in attempts to “disrupt, delay or even attack vehicles approaching the port”.
On Saturday, the first of the concrete panels which make up the wall were moved into place.
Construction began after a legal challenge to stop the process mounted by the Calais mayor was overruled by the local administration.
Natacha Bouchart initially favoured a wall but then said there was no need for one because the French government had promised to close down the Jungle camp.
The Road Haulage Association, which represents UK truck drivers, also came out against the project.
The company said the money should be used on safety measures.
Spokeswoman Kate Gibbs said: “Money would be much better spent on boosting security along the approach road.
“This is being called the Great Wall of Calais but what good will it do?
“We are telling our drivers not to stop within 150 miles of Calais so they are not targeted by migrants.'
Robert Goodwill, immigration minister, said in September the wall would halt the flow of migrants and keep drivers safe.
In July official figures showed that one migrant is caught trying to sneak into the UK every six minutes – with 84,088 detentions at our borders last year
This month, unaccompanied migrant children from the Jungle began arriving in Britain.
The Calais prefecture confirmed that two dozen unaccompanied minors were already bound for a new life in Britain, where they had family members.
A spokesman said: “Five Syrian minors and one Afghan minor have just been transferred to the United Kingdom.”
The children have been living in squalid conditions in the camp, which houses up to 10,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
