Ex-general to police Channel Tunnel

FOLKESTONE, England -- Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has appointed a senior British Army officer to lead its fight against the flood of asylum seekers who use its cross channel route to gain entry into the UK.

General Sir Roger Wheeler, who commanded British land forces until his retirement last year, has been asked to review the tunnel operator's security procedures in France to cut down on the number of immigrants crossing into Britain.

In recent weeks groups of refugees regularly target the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel and ferry complex that links nearby Calais with British channel ports.

Many risk their lives by attempting to stow away on a train or truck heading to the UK while others have handed over their life savings to people smugglers.

Some refugees have even tried to walk the 35 km (22 mile) long tunnel.

French and British officials are preparing to hold talks over the continuing flight of illegal refugees from France to Britain.

The discussions, to be held next Wednesday, follow attempts by hundreds of illegal immigrants from the French refugee camp at Sangatte to seek asylum in Britain after making a hazardous journey through the Channel Tunnel.

Wheeler, who has seen action in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Falklands, takes on the job indefinitely to try to stem the numbers of illegal immigrants.

A spokeswoman for Eurotunnel said it has been looking for a person with military experience to take on the job.

"Really it's a situation where we needed someone with tactical thinking," she told the Press Association.

"There are some facilities in place which the asylum seekers have looked around and we thought a military person was best to look at what we are doing."

Wheeler was appointed to the job in July and has already carried out an audit of what security measures Eurotunnel has in place at the tunnel entrance at Coquelles.

Having considered the weaknesses, he will make recommendations as to how security can be improved, the spokeswoman said.

Wheeler told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "I have recommended some extension of the inner perimeter fence, I have recommended some variations on the way they deploy their manpower and I have recommended some changes in the way, in their terms, they manage the situation, and in my terms, command and control it.

"Eurotunnel are determined to counter the threat to the terminal, if for no other reason than to prevent people from being killed running around the railway yard."