British charity for Calais migrants is condemned for saying truck drivers who complain about refugees attacking their vehicles should 'change their jobs'

Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley has sparked outrage among truckers

She said truckers facing intimidation in Calais should find a new job

The charity worker also said it wasn't 'the end of the world' for lorry drivers

Haulage chiefs have labelled her comments 'outrageous' and 'naive'

Richard Burnett, from the RHA, called for the camp at Calais to be moved

The founder of a British charity has outraged trucking chiefs by claiming lorry drivers who complain about attacks by migrants in Calais should just change jobs.

Clare Moseley, the founder of Care4Calais, said it was 'not the end of the world' if the drivers were forced from their work and claimed they still had a 'safe future'.

Haulage chiefs condemned her comments as 'absolutely outrageous' and say their drivers fear for their lives as they are forced to run a gauntlet through the area delivering goods to Britain.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Moseley said truck drivers have a 'safe future' and 'if they have to change their jobs it is not the end of the world'.

Richard Burnett, the Road Haulage Association chief executive, said her comments were, 'at best naive' and truck drivers were also entitled to humanitarian treatment.

He said: 'We understand that the improvements at the camp are being made on humanitarian grounds.

The RHA is not a political organisation, and has no wish to become embroiled in a political argument but surely, the 9000 HGV drivers that cross the Channel on a daily basis are also entitled to humanitarian treatment?

'The cab of a truck is an HGV drivers ‘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.'

Care4Calais later apologised for the comments, saying it supported RHA 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.'

Last month transport bosses warned drivers were facing unprecedented levels of aggression and attacks involving knives, hammers, iron bars, baseball bats and even guns.

Migrants are dropping lumps of concrete from motorway bridges or threatening injury unless drivers let them inside their cabs in a desperate bid to reach Britain.

Bosses say the problem is far worse in the run-up to Christmas as firms transport more goods across the Channel.

‘Truck operators and their drivers are again in the firing line - sometimes literally,’ said James Hookham of the Freight Transport Association.

‘No one has a right to threaten, intimidate or physically attack drivers and other innocent bystanders. This must be the primary concern of French and British governments before someone gets seriously injured, or even killed.’

Peter Cullum, of the Road Haulage Association, said claims that threats and violence against drivers had doubled were credible.

‘The situation for the drivers is getting far worse,’ he said. ‘They’re facing a gauntlet of intimidation and fear. As more migrants reach Calais, they get increasingly desperate and resort to more violence. It is frightening.’

Cross-Channel haulier Jessica Lewis was surrounded by dozens of hooded male migrants trying to get into the passenger door of her vehicle as it arrived at the port in Calais in the middle of the night.

She said: ‘The police were nowhere to be seen. It is just very scary, very scary indeed. I ended up bursting into tears when I got into the checking area at Calais.

‘It just brings home to you the severity of the problem that drivers are encountering every day.’

Read more: Care4Calais' Clare Moseley condemned for comments on Calais lorry drivers