Former Home Secretary and Conservative leader Michael Howard has become the latest politician to call on French authorities to deal with migrants gathered at Calais.

Lord Howard, the former MP for Folkestone and Hythe, said France ‘should get its act together and deal with the problem’ of asylum seekers in the French town.

It comes as fears grow over the increasingly desperate attempts of migrants gathered at the port to get to the UK.

Last week, 150-odd migrants tried to storm a UK-bound ferry. They were stopped after ferry workers turned hoses on them and lifted the ferry ramp.

Lord Howard said that Calais’ Mayor Natacha Bouchart was “directing her frustration and her anger at the wrong target” after she demanded the UK deal with the situation and threatened to blockade the port.

“France used to take this very seriously." - Michael Howard

He said that while he had “some sympathy” with Calais, France should be ‘taking more seriously its obligation to process asylum seekers’.

Speaking on Radio 4, he said: “The general principle which every member state of the European Union has subscribed to is that refugees, people fleeing persecution, should apply for asylum in the first safe country they reach."

“France used to take this very seriously.

"When I was Home Secretary, which was quite a long time ago now, we had an agreement with France under which if people came to the UK from France and claimed asylum we returned them to France and France dealt with their claim.

"That is what really ought to happen.”