BRITAIN and France have combined to call for international efforts to address "a global migration crisis" which has seen thousands of people trying to force their way into the Channel Tunnel in an effort to reach the UK.

French riot police sprayed migrants with chemical irritants after they tore down security fences at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais at the weekend.

Downing Street announced that the UK will fund additional private security guards, fencing and CCTV cameras to improve security at the terminal, while more French police are to be deployed to the border over the summer.

In a joint article for the Sunday Telegraph and French newspaper Journal du Dimanche, Home Secretary Theresa May and her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve called on other EU nations to take action to address the root causes of the chaos.

It comes after The Argus revealed on Saturday that services in Sussex are feeling the strain of the problems of the last few weeks.

Council bosses told us they have seen an increase in young people from war-torn countries travelling across the Channel into Newhaven.

As a result local authority care services are feeling the financial pressure as they are having to accommodate the youngsters from the likes of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Liz Rugg, East Sussex County Council's assistant director for safeguarding children, said there was added pressure as the problem has come at a time when there is a need to "make savings in local services".

There are also fears for the impact on Sussex Police, with officers being drafted from the country to help with Operation Stack, which is helping manage the traffic problems on the M20 in Kent.

In their joint statement in the Sunday Telegraph, the pair said the problem cannot just be seen as an issue for "our two countries".

They added: "It is a priority at both a European and international level. Many of those in Calais and attempting to cross the Channel have made their way there through Italy, Greece or other countries. That is why we are pushing other member states, and the whole of the EU, to address this problem at root."

They said a long term solution was to persuade migrants that out streets are "not paved with gold".

Meanwhile a consultation has been launched on stripping financial support from the families of migrants who fail in their applications for asylum.

There is also controversy over the cost to taxpayers of housing migrants who have arrived through the Channel Tunnel, after contractors Serco confirmed that around 100 were being accommodated in hotels.

The Home Office said that the use of hotels was "only ever acceptable as a short-term contingency measure".