Armed French police are to be given new powers at Dover to enforce the European Union’s new e-border system.
They will be allowed to carry their weapons along a 1.5 mile-long stretch of the A20 to reach a new check zone in the western docks.
They will also be permitted to escort any detained person they have arrested following immigration checks in the new control zone back to their main base in the eastern docks.
French police currently carry out border checks in the eastern docks at Dover under a “juxtaposed controls” deal between Britain and France.
It has been delayed amid fears it could cause lengthy queues at borders, including for the Eurostar at St Pancras International, Dover, and the Eurotunnel in Kent.
It will require non-EU citizens arriving in a Schengen area destination (most EU countries) for the first time after the new system comes in to register their fingerprints, provide a facial scan and answer questions about their stay.
At Dover, the plan includes carrying out immigration checks on passengers on some 68,000 coaches which go through the port each year, and possibly in other vehicles, at a new centre in the western docks.
But this would require the French Police aux Frontieres (PAF), who are armed, to be given new powers to move between the current centre in the eastern docks and also in how they deal with anyone they arrest.
Home Office minister Lord Hanson tabled an amendment to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) to make these changes.
“This order creates what we are calling a ‘circulation area’, which will be a section of the A20 public road, approximately 1.5 miles long, linking the French control zone at the western docks with the existing control zone in Dover.
“PAF officers will be permitted to travel with their service weapons, in the circulation area only, between control zones. Officers will also be able to escort detained persons between control zones.”
But shadow Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom asked: “I appreciate the detailed description of the powers of the PAF officers, but I did not hear the circumstances in which the use of firearms would be permitted.”
Lord Hanson responded: “Any individual at any time can be a danger to those checking border paperwork.
“It is a requirement for the French authorities that they carry weapons accordingly, but that that will be regulated by French national legislation in accordance with their normal working practices.”
Liberal Democrat peer Lord German voiced concerns that local people on the A20, bike path or esplanade including “Sue who has a seafood operation” on it, might see armed French police travelling between control zones, especially if they went by foot.
Lord Hanson stressed they would only do so in a vehicle.
The EES was due to be introduced on November 10 but has been delayed due to the worries that it will create problems at borders.
Dover District Council leader Kevin Mills warned it would have been "complete and utter carnage" and threatened "gridlock on steroids" for the Kent town.
