The leader of Kent County Council says contingency plans are to be drawn up in the event the French authorities scrap an agreement over border controls at Calais.

Cllr Paul Carter was responding to a question today about whether Kent was ready to deal with the possible repercussions in the event the bi-lateral treaty was axed.

There have been claims that would lead to migrant camps being set up in Kent.

The Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart has said this week that she expected the camps to be demolished very soon.

“In light of this, it is right that consideration should be given to the impact of revocation in Kent" - KCC leader Paul Carter

She posted a series of tweets saying: ‘We can't wait any longer, we need to know as fast as possible when and how the Jungle will be torn down.’

She said Mr Cazenueve, the French interior minister, would give the green light for the dismantlement ‘very soon’, through the prefecture.

Several French presidential candidates have indicated they could seek to scrap the agreement between the UK and France which allows UK border controls to operate from the French side.

Mr Carter said he had recently met with senior Home Office officials and raised the matter.

“Le Touquet treaty was contracted between nations, not regions, which means that it would require the authority of the French national government rather than the Mayor of Calais to repeal it. It is not dependent on membership of the EU.”

He added: “The French government does have the legal power to terminate the treaty but there would need to be a two-year notice period before the change came into effect.”

France and the UK governments had worked “very well together” in establishing juxtaposed controls as at Calais and “there seems to be an ongoing commitment that this should continue.”

But he acknowledged that since the Referendum result, there had been calls for the treaty to end “by several prominent candidates for the 2017 Presidential elections.”

He told councillors: “In light of this, it is right that consideration should be given to the impact of revocation in Kent, accepting the two year notice period. In Kent we will continue to work closely with the Home Office.”

Labour opposition county councillor Dr Mike Eddy, who tabled the question to today’s full council meeting at County Hall, said that the situation should be monitored closely and contingency plans were needed.

The issue of the makeshift camps was a flashpoint in the EU Referendum debate, with the then Prime Minister David Cameron warning the treaty could be ditched - leading to migrant camps cropping up in Dover and Folkestone.

More recently, groups of would-be migrants have established other camps along the French coast and there have been a number of incidents in which groups of migrants have been picked up in the English channel.

Between 4,500 and 6,000 refugees - including hundreds of children - remain in the camp in conditions that charities have criticised.

Earlier this year, part of the southern part of the camp was demolished with about 3,000 refugees relocated.

Kent County Council has had to tackle a long-standing issue of the impact of unaccompanied young asylum seekers which reached a peak last year.