Refugee crisis: Lorry drivers get app to track stowaways

The new app lets lorry drivers record incidents of refugees trying to board slow moving or stationary lorries

Refugees have set up a shanty town in Calais and are attempting to get through the tunnel (Getty Images)

A new app has been launched to help lorry drivers report people attempting to climb into their vehicles.

The Channel Tunnel has been crippled by an ongoing crisis for months as desperate refugees living in Calais attempt to board lorries and trains to get to Britain to claim asylum.

But the app, called BF Intelligence, designed by an Eastbourne and Sussex-based technology company, gives lorry drivers the opportunity to notify a driver in front that people are climbing into the back of their lorries.

The app’s designer, Jeffrey Scott, created it after he went to Calais to see firsthand how the crisis was unfolding.

He told the MailOnline: “I was in Calais a few weeks ago and we saw drivers that wanted to warn drivers in front that there were migrants trying to get in the back.

“It is a tough situation. It was quite intimidating for one driver that we saw beep his horn to warn someone in front - especially when it is a large group.”

The app, which launched on 2nd September, allows using report details of the incident including, the number of refugees, whether they were successful getting into the lorry, whether the driver was behaving suspiciously and the licence plate number.

The app, which is free, is available from the Apple store on iOS 8.0 and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

As the refugee crisis deepened, lorry drivers went on a series of strikes in June to protest against the damage the refugees were doing to their lorries and the products they were shipping. They urged the UK government to intervene.

Calling the refugees “aggressive”, one driver told Sky News at the time she had searched everywhere, including under her vehicle, but refugees still managed to get in.