A blockade of Calais on Monday will be replaced by a "go slow" protest by French hauliers after eleventh hour talks to avert the crisis.

The planned blockade - in protest at the migrant camp - was scheduled to take place on Monday and has triggered fears of widespread disruption to cross-channel travellers.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve met officials and organisers of the protest on Friday in Calais and that appears to have led to an agreement not to blockade the port.

Organisers who had said they would ring the port with a human chain and threatened their action could be indefinite appear to have agreed to a "go slow" protest instead. French hauliers and farmers are expected to stage the protest on the A16, the route leading to the port.

Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said on a visit to Kent that she would join the blockade as a show of solidarity with French hauliers and businesses who have organised it.

The talks were attended by the chief executive of the Road Haulage Association Richard Burnett.

He said: "The effects of a blockade at the port would have a massive impact on UK-bound hauliers, from an economic perspective and, more importantly, their safety will be compromised."

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke said: "While I have the deepest sympathy for the people of Calais, Monday's demonstration will achieve nothing other than chaos on the roads of France and Kent. What's needed is real action to tackle the causes of this crisis."

Meanwhile, Mnsr Cazeneuve has told a French newspaper that the French government was determined to remove the migrant camp in stages.

He said the government was determined to take down the camp, which is estimated to now have about 9,000 people.