Illegal immigrants are bypassing supposedly foolproof border controls by simply climbing over a fence at Calais.

The farcical discovery was made by Peers during a visit to the French port - where migrants assemble to try to sneak into the UK by lorry.

The House of Lords committee said inadequate fencing at Calais was allowing "determined" illegals to get into a "clean" lorry park - where vehicles have already undegone checks involving heartbeat and breath sensors and scanners which can see through vehicles.

Last year 1,300 were found in the parking area, but critics say thousands more are likely to have made it to the UK.

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More than 800,000 vehicles pass through Calais each year.

It is hugely embarrassing for the Home Office, which has spent millions providing hi-tech scanning equipment in Calais and other European ports.

The heartbeat sensors, CO2 probes and "passive millimetre wave" scanners which can see through vehicles have all been provided at the UK taxpayer's expense. The equipment has been operating at Calais since October 2004.

Once these checks have been cleared, lorries park near the ferry berths and the House of Lords EU Committee on Home Affairs noticed the inadequate fencing.

The chairman of the committee, Lord Jopling, said: "Our visit to the juxtaposed British and French border controls at Calais showed that there are excellent new technologies deployed to prevent illegal migration to the UK.

"However, we were surprised to find inadequate fencing, the replacement of which might prevent 1,500 illegal immigrants a year from boarding lorries bound for Britain. This would be entirely in British interests.

"The British and French authorities must take immediate action to remedy this."

The report said the poor fencing was the "one weak point in an otherwise excellent system".

Full article here.