The Home Office has rejected a claim that a private contractor could be paid as much as £80m to help carry out checks at the Calais border.

The claim follows confirmation that the government is to invite bids for a contract to appoint a company to conduct initial checks.

Its current contract is due to run out shortly and the new specification has taken account of the increased workload which it has had to fund because of the large number of migrants trying to cross the channel.

However, the department said it expected the costs to be significantly less than £80m.

A spokesman said: “This isn't new. Specialist search contractors have successfully played a vital role in the protecting our borders for over a decade.

"They perform initial checks allowing our Border Force officers to focus on the highly skilled work they are trained to do.”

No Border Force officers will be made redundant as a result of the contract, which intends to replace the existing arrangement at the juxtaposed controls.

The current contract is held by Eamus Cork Solutions Sarl, who were awarded it in 2011. At the time, it was worth £8m.

Since that time, the amount of checks on vehicles has risen substantially and the Home Office said its tender process reflected that there was now additional workload.

Despite this, officials say the new contract is expected to be for significantly less than £80m.

The figure represents the maximum possible value of the contract, factoring in all extension options and an increase in the volume of the service if required.

However, the Home Office says the contract would be flexible and the tender was looking for an expanded level of service, reflecting the current volume of freight searchers, and for flexible options to increase or decrease the service in future.