Eurotunnel
Are there any problems coming back from France using the tunnel. Have heard migrants try and get into your camper etc.
Comments
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I've never had any problems using the ferry to be honest.
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We use it twice a year and have never seen any migrants. You may be asked where your last stop was and whether the Motorhome has been locked since then.
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No problems with people trying to clamber aboard but the Customs Officer will probably ask you where you've come from or stayed the previous night - probably to ascertain if you could have extra passengers you didn't know about.
The main problem is actually getting on the train.
Last Thursday morning it took 27 minutes from the Pet Passport Office (we have a dog) to the Check-in booths.
5 mins to get to the French Passport office and then 33 mins to the UK Customs Office.
15 more mins to get on the Train and another 40 minutes before the Train set off
2 hours and 39 mins from the Pet Passport Office until unloading in the UK.
We were well and truly pi**ed off with the time it took.
Rant over !
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On the A26 approaching Calais at least one of the Aires has been closed for several years which I assume is security related. We often stop at the last fuel station services before Calais and are sensitive to the possibility of migrants hanging around. Haven’t seen any though.
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You can kid some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time! Most of the migrants are`nt evil perhaps but they are desperate so people like us used to a safe cushy life with nothing better to do other than swan around in expensive outfits are`nt high their list of concerns.
On that basis its sensible to take a few precautions, not travelling or stopping overnight near port areas at night is high on my own list.
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Back to Eurotunnel - yes there are migrants in northern France, but these days they are not exclusively trying to cross at Calais. Other ports have their own problems, and so wherever you cross if there happens to be an incident that day you may just (if very very unlucky) be caught up in it. The security around the ports everywhere has been strengthened, the police presence increased, dog teams patrol the areas along the security fences, searches at check-in are more thorough, and the advice is generally not to stop anywhere in the vicinity of a port, but to fill up miles back down the road, and keep driving until you reach the port check-in lanes.
Take the normal security precautions when stopping - check the vehicle or the caravan, and underneath if you have a highish clearance,don't leave vehicles unattended, and don't stop if anyone attempt to flag you down. Be vigilant when driving towards the port, don't cross at night, and most of all, don't worry and don't believe everything you read in the Daily Mail.
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No, in fact I didn't even see any immigrant types last year or the year before!
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I haven't seen migrants at Dunkirk - or the Brittany ports - but I travel by daylight. It wouldn't worry me to travel via Calais if that suited but I would be vigilant. I have had the caravan searched on most of the crossings I have used from the French side which is fair enough although I don't think the searches all that thorough! There is quite a lot of space in the Wardrobe and under the seats but they weren't checked! I did however get berated at Plymouth for arriving with the blinds drawn (the dog travels in the caravan and she is very calm with the blinds down but would not have been calm is she could have seen people).
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We’ve been through the tunnel four times in the last year or so and have never seen a migrant or had our motorhome checked or even asked where we’ve been.
Nora
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Thanks Oneputt but like many others we have never had as much as a sniff of a problem and I stay overnight quite close to the Tunnel to catch an early morning train, Last year I used Camping Erables and the Aire at Wissant when Erables wasn't open.
peedee
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These incidents definitely happen, and aren't exclusive to the Daily Mail, so whilst there is no point in scaremongering that Calais is a dangerous place, with marauding gangs everywhere, intent to attack and jump on every moving vehicle heading north, there is also no room for complacency. Migrants tend to target lorries - because there are more of them, more space, and more chance of getting away with it.
But, just as you would take precautions parking up on a busy motorway services in this country (where I've read that many people wouldn't dream of leaving their outfit without one person remaining in place) be equally vigilant when driving near any of the Channel ports, and heed any overhead signs, police notices, and simple common sense!
But please don't let it put anyone off.............. we do about six return trips a year, always through Calais or Eurotunnel, and have never witnessed any incidents, not been **subject to delays as a result.
**(Edited in a minute later, except at Le Havre about three or four years ago when during the Calais strikes, we used an alternative port. There we waited for a long time whilst extra - and very thorough - security searches took place. This delayed check-in by a considerable amount, but the boat still sailed on time. We were told that migrants had successfully got across from Le Havre to Portsmouth, hence the increased security).
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We used the tunnel twice last year in our MH & never saw any migrants or had any problems. We were vigilant & made sure one of us stayed in the Van whilst the other used the toilet when at the tunnel service area. On reflection I think were being over cautious. When we use the tunnel we tend to turn up just prior to our travel time so drive straight through anyway. We've never used the tunnel from France in the dark & again I'm probably being over cautious there.
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You travel with the dog in the caravan?
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Dog/s go in the caravan while on board ship - not for other travel!
Gives them a chance to move round a bit and with the blinds down they are much more calm than in a car where they can see people passing. However if I ever do Eurotunnel they would probably stay in the car with me. Last time I did Eurotunnel it was before dogs could have passports. 0 -
Annually since 2013 using the tunnel going out in April and returning in July, always in daylight. Never seen any migrants and only once did French border control sweep the car steering wheel and dash with some electronic gizmo, no clue what they were looking for but that was the extent of us ever being stopped.
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We've used the tunnel twice a year for the last 10+ years now; last October we were asked where we'd stayed the previous night (our return crossing from France was at 08.20), and whether we'd stopped en route from that campsite on the way to the tunnel. The MH wasn't searched, but someone did check with the wand, which is something we've had done a few times before.
We have seen a few migrants in various areas over the years in the aea around Coquelles, but not been involved in any of them trying to get on board. We did use Auchan at Coquelles, but not in recent years; now tend to do most of it at Neufchatel-en-Bray, when we leave the campsite there. If there is anything we've forgotten, then one of us stays in the MH (usually OH) while I go and get the last few bits. We don't leave the MH unattended if we stop at motorway service stations either.
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The last 3 'green' aires on the A26 into Calais are closed, although the last attended 'blue' aire is open. Apparently it's a measure to stop lorries being boarded.
Last Friday afternoon, having left the A26 at Junction 3 for our overnight hotel in St Omer, we came across a group of young men being herded along by a police van. St Omer is about 40km south of Calais.
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The one time we really got stopped & searched was by UK customs on this side. My wife's convinced that it was because I was wearing a very sun-faded elderly hemp hat, which she reckoned made me look suspiciously like an ageing hippy. So the moral of that is not to wear dubious hats. Luckily they didn't take us apart - nothing other than musical instruments in those cases, but instruments don't like being prodded & poked in the wrong places!
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