TRAFFIC chaos is threatened for the roads of Kent with next to no freight trains travelling through the Channel Tunnel this week. The invasion of the French rail operator SNCF's Frethun depot near Calais last Thursday night by more than 200 asylum seekers trying to board wagons destined for Britain has crippled freight services.

And until the backlog of trains is cleared, all other trains remain in sidings on the Continent.

An attempt is being made to send at least one freight train through a night but the waiting loads may soon be transferred to lorries meaning up to 6,000 more truck journeys a week on the carriageways of the county.

English Welsh and Scottish Railways who operate freight services through the tunnel is losing half a million pounds a week because of the disruption. SNCF cannot guarantee the security of the rail yard and the timetable has been decreased from 15 freight trains travelling overnight to the near suspension of services. More than 1,700 rail freight services have been cancelled since November 2001.

Geoff Dossetter, from the Tunbridge Wells-based Freight Transport Association said: "The paralysis of international rail freight because of a relatively small number of asylum seekers is both disgraceful and preposterous. The Government must apply as much diplomatic pressure as possible on the French to secure that freight yard.

"The fact that people are getting so close to such major infrastructure must call into question general security in that area. The goods still have to be moved and if they cannot go by rail, inevitably the next practical solution is road."

Eurotunnel spokesman Camille Newall said: "We are not able to offer the good service our customers deserve in these circumstances and have therefore demanded a fax from SNCF stating they have searched every freight service that leaves France and it is clear. The trains are then not slowed between the yard and the tunnel portal giving noone else the opportunity to jump aboard."

This week French rail officials said more Gendarmerie may now be positioned at the SNCF site to prevent a repetition of the scenes at the end of last week.

Eurotunnel has twice failed to persuade the French courts to close the Red Cross centre at Sangatte which it says provides a "departure lounge" for asylum seekers trying to board its shuttle services.

Prime Minister Tony Blair is due at a summit in Barcelona at the weekend when the subject of asylum seekers will be raised.