THE NUMBER of children and teenagers seeking asylum in Sussex is “steadily increasing”, it was claimed yesterday as the Calais situation reached crisis point.

East Sussex County Council said more young people from war-torn countries are travelling across the Channel alone and being picked up across the county.

Migrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are putting a financial strain on the local authority that has supported almost as many young migrants in the last seven months as they did for the whole of 2014.

The claims came on the day Sussex Police were called to help with Operation Stack, which is helping to manage the backup of lorries on the M20, and David Cameron said the situation would last all summer after he cut short his trip to Asia to chair a top-priority Cobra meeting.

Assistant director for safeguarding, looked after children and youth justice Liz Rugg, said many of the asylum seekers are being picked up from Newhaven Port.

She said: “The rising number of traumatised children and young people arriving locally is putting strain on services, as we endeavour to place children with foster carers and in supported lodgings.

“We always need more people to apply to be assessed as carers for this group of children and the wider population of children in the care system.

“Once we have settled a child in placement they become our responsibility and we then incur ongoing costs in the long term as they leave care as young adults.

“This will include payments for things like setting up grants for them to live independently, and fees for further and higher education.

“This increasing financial strain is on top of the need to make savings in local services.”

Present funding streams enable the council to claim £95 a day for a child under 16 and £71 a day for a child between 16 and 18.

But the council said this does not cover the full costs of placements, staff time or ongoing support to the young people as they become care leavers.

There are now an estimated 5,000 migrants in Calais and many are living in a makeshift camp nicknamed The Jungle as disruption to the ferry service continues amid French strikes.

Operation Stack, which has turned the M20 in Kent into a giant lorry park as a result of chaos on the other side of the Channel due to strikes in Calais, has hit tourists, businesses and lorry drivers.

Kent Police have asked for the help of neighbouring forces as they struggle to cope with the demands of the operation, and Sussex officers are set to offer their support.

The force would not specify how many officers were required and how Sussex Police would be affected, but confirmed the reason for assistance was to provide more bodies and vehicles at the scene.

COUNTY INVOLVED IN EVERY LAYER OF MESS

THE chaos at Calais is dripping into Sussex – and the problem shows no sign of abating.

East Sussex County Council has noted a marked increase in the number of children entering the country from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

They are currently supporting 24 young asylum seekers and expect this number to rise over the next few months.

This is compared to the 27 they supported in 2014.

Now the county is involved in almost every layer of the mess that has formed at the crossing between Dover and Calais.

But with the Dover-Calais stretch clogged up, the Newhaven to Dieppe route is becoming more and more popular.

Francois Jean, Newhaven Port manager, has had to take on extra staff to deal with the increase in migrants. She said: “There is a definite increase in traffic.

“What’s happening over in France is terrible and there is not an easy solution, but for us, we have been busier.

“We’ve got a good service of three calls a day and we could have a fourth call for holiday makers or HGVs.

“Migrants are a problem for all the ports, it’s a big concern.”

Mr Jean also said the UK Border Force is doing a good job in preventing those who are trying to cross using ferries and the HGVs.

However, there is a fear Sussex Police could be stretched with officers to be deployed to Kent, potentially for several weeks.

The Sussex Police Federation has expressed concern. Secretary Mark White said: “I’m sure the force will do their best to make sure not to affect the everyday policing in Sussex.

“However, given the Prime Minister has said this will be a long term operation, we would be concerned about officers’ fatigue and their ability to take holiday during the summer.”

At the moment the number of officers to be deployed is unclear, but it strikes a resemblance to the summer of 2013 when Kent, Surrey and Thames Valley forces came to Sussex’s rescue in helping police the fracking protests in Balcombe.

On top of the influx of asylum seekers and the police’s deployment across county borders, resources are also being sent to France.

Extra fencing will be sent to Calais and Ministry of Defence land will be used to ease congestion to try to help deal with the migrant crisis, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

The fencing – or to give its correct term the National Barrier Asset – is kept and managed by Sussex Police. Although it is unclear what managing the fence entails.

Speaking at Downing Street after chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee yesterday, David Cameron said the situation was “unacceptable”.

He added: “This is going to be a difficult issue right across the summer.

“I will have a team of senior ministers who will be working to deal with it, and we rule nothing out in taking action to deal with this very serious problem.

“We are absolutely on it. We know it needs more work.

“The situation is not acceptable and it is absolutely this Government’s priority to deal with it in every way we can.

“We have got people trying to illegally enter our country and here in Britain we have got lorry drivers and holidaymakers facing potential delays.”

Thankfully haulage companies in the county largely remain unscathed by the crisis so far.

Simon Priddle, transport manager at Southwick-based Dudman Group, said: “We probably would be if we were ordering parts, but as of yet that hasn’t happened."

“It’s an unfortunate situation, and the companies involved will be losing a lot because they’re just sitting there twiddling their thumbs.

“If we were trucking that area, it would cost us an absolute fortune, but thankfully we only deal with the local area.”