UK and France pledge to work together to resolve Calais migrant crisis

credit - PA images

The UK and French governments have pledged to work together and "step up" moves to improve the migrant situation in Calais.

A statement, released after Home Secretary Amber Rudd met her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve, said both countries would resolve the situation through "close co-operation".

They stated that the UK and France would also further secure the port and channel tunnel.

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The move follows calls to allow migrants to lodge UK asylum claims on French soil.

But this plan was dismissed by a Home Office source as a "complete non-starter".

The Jungle camp in Calais has become the focal point of France's refugee crisis, with about 7,000 people living there.

In their statement, Rudd and Cazeneuve said: "The two countries recognise the humanitarian situation in Calais that affects both countries and the need to step up joint efforts to improve the situation in Calais."

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he had "seldom seen anything so disgusting as those fetid camps in a land of plenty".

He said he had raised the issue of the camps with French and UK authorities.