Charity founder Claire Moseley angered lorry drivers by suggesting they have a "safe future" despite the huge impact the chaos and disruption at Calais is having on haulage businesses up and down the country. 

The remarks from the head of the Care4Calais aid charity were branded "absolutely outrageous" by haulage chiefs, who represent lorry drivers subjected to horrific assaults on a daily basis as they pass through the lawless port town.

She has since apologised for any distress they may have caused, and stressed that the charity supports the rights of truckers to carry out their jobs safely. 

Earlier Richard Burnett, chief executive of the respected Road Haulage Association (RHA), said the comments were "at best naive" and said truckers are faced with "a constant barrage of abuse and intimidation from migrants" when trying to bring goods into Britain.

He blasted: “Ms Moseley’s comments that if truck drivers have to change their job it’s not the end of the world is, at best, naive.

"The cab of a truck is an HGV driver's ‘home’ for the duration of their journey. Why are we allowing that home to be put at risk? 

"If, as suggested by Ms Moseley, drivers who don’t like it leave the industry for another job, the future for the UK economy looks very bleak indeed.

"The RHA is not a political organisation, and has no wish to become embroiled in a political argument, but surely the 9,000 HGV drivers that cross the Channel on a daily basis are also entitled to humanitarian treatment?"

Ms Moseley made the controversial comments whilst speaking on a TV documentary about conditions and security at the notorious Calais camp.  

She told the BBC Inside Out programme: "You don’t come here if you have got any choice whatsoever, and you most certainly do not come here for a hand out of food or a second hand pair of jeans. Truck drivers have a safe future, if they have to change their jobs it is not the end of the world, this is." 

After the furore erupted she issued a statement apologising for the comments, saying her charity has sympathy for truckers who are just trying to do their jobs. 

She said: "Care4Calais supports all Road Haulage Association members' right to continue driving through Calais port. We  apologise to anyone offended by comments taken from the BBC Inside Out interview.  Our aim is to provide humanitarian aid to people who have fled terrible circumstances and who are now living in inhumane conditions in Calais." 

The row erupted following claims by former counter-terror chief Kevin Hurley that the Jungle Camp in Calais has become a haven for Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis trying to smuggle themselves into Britain. 

Mr Hurley, former head of counter-terrorism at London City Police and the current Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Surrey, said that “if I were a returning jihadi, I would smuggle myself in amongst this group and would easily get lost". 

But Ms Moseley dismissed his concerns as "the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard", claiming: “The people here in the camp fear ISIS and the like as much, if not more, than we do. ISIS is the reality they flee from." 

Today it also emerged that thousands of migrants are planning to defy an order from the French Government to vacate the most squalid and crime-ridden areas of the camp and instead move into more permanent accommodation. 

Calais migrant crisis growing

Fri, December 18, 2015

A growing number of migrants seeking to reach Britain are trying to leave from the Belgium and France. Here are some of the scenes from the Calais migrant crisis in France...

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Migrants and refugees enter the back of a truxk

Many migrants are said to be planning a protest against the move because they fear that, if their tents are destroyed, they will find themselves with no choice but to apply for asylum in France instead of making repeated attempts to smuggle themselves into Britain. 

French authorities want some 2,000 migrants currently living in shanty-town conditions to leave their tents so that they can be housed in a new £20million camp made up of converted shipping containers. 

But in a statement so-called community leaders in the camp - which is believed to be run by gangs of criminal people smugglers - said: "We, the united people of the Jungle, Calais, respectfully decline the demands of the French government with regards to reducing the size of the jungle. 

"We have decided to remain where we are and will peacefully resist the government’s plans to destroy our homes. 

"We plead with the French authorities and the international communities that you understand our situation and respect our fundamental human rights."

Their refusal to comply with the order raises the spectre of yet another bloody showdown with French riot police, who will bring in bulldozers on Thursday to raze parts of the unsanitary camp. 

Calais has experienced several violent riots in recent weeks, including one on Christmas day when thousands of migrants tried to storm the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in a co-ordinated bid to get to Britain. 

The RHA has backed calls from UKIP leader Nigel Farage for the army to be sent in to clear the Jungle Camp completely, which it says is being used as "little more than a departure lounge" for migrants trying to reach Britain. 

Mr Burnett said: “It has become glaringly obvious that the Calais camp is in the wrong place and it must be moved further inland. As it stands at the moment, it represents little more than a departure lounge for migrants whose only aim in life is to reach the UK – whatever the cost to others. Until such time as this common-sense, long-term solution prevails, we stand firm behind our call to see the French military deployed as a matter of extreme urgency.”