The UK and France are to step up their efforts to resolve the migrant crisis in Calais and say more security measures will be implemented at the port and tunnel.

The Home Secretary Amber Rudd met her counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve today for talks amid a growing clamour from French political figures for the treaty which permits border checks to be carried out in France to be scrapped.

In a joint statement issued after today's talks in Paris, the two countries said they would intensify collaboration to address the problems caused by the Calais jungle camp. They also pledged to continue to maintain the existing border arrangements.

The statement said:

"In the face of the challenges posed by ongoing migratory flows in Europe, and taking into account the migratory pressure in the Calais region and the particularly difficult humanitarian situation, we are committed to working together to strengthen the security of our shared border, to strongly diminish the migratory pressure in Calais and preserve the vital economic link supported by the juxtaposed controls in Calais."

The statement added that the two countries would "continue to work together to return illegal migrants in Calais who are not in need of protection."

It added: "The two countries recognise the humanitarian situation in Calais that affects both countries and the need to step up joint efforts to improve the situation in Calais."

Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy, who is running for office again next year, said it was time for the Calais migrant camp to be closed and for border controls to be shifted back to the UK.

“I’m demanding the opening of a centre in the UK to deal with asylum seekers in Britain so that Britain can do the work that concerns them,” he told a rally.

And Xavier Bertrand, president of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region, said migrants should be allowed to lodge asylum claims to come to the UK from Calais.

Official figures, meanwhile, show that the number of illegal immigrant arrests in the UK has risen by a quarter in two years.

According to data released under the Freedom of Information Act, Kent Police made 2,092 arrests between January 2013 and April 2016 - the third highest number of any force.

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke - who last week warned lorry drivers could be killed as they passed through Calais - said re-establishing border checks in the UK would only mean more migrants heading to the UK.

He tweeted: “We need new treaty, but not right to enable people to apply for UK asylum from France. Would just make Calais a bigger magnet for migrants.”

The meeting with the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is a scheduled one, but the migrant issue and the Calais camp is expected to dominate the talks.