Two busloads of traumatised Ukrainian families finally headed out of Calais tonight.
One went to Lille where the mums and dads were told they could have to wait another 36 hours before getting visa appointments.
The shambolic scenes of chaos were further illustrated when a third bus to Lille left completely empty.
The driver said he had been booked to drive to Lille but, after waiting for an hour, he drove off without a single person on board.
And the furious Calais mayor accused the Boris Johnson government of being “anti-humanitarian”.
Natacha Bouchart said 350 terrified refugees had been prevented from entering the UK by British border guards in recent days.
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Boris Johnson has faced demands for a more “humane” policy for refugees fleeing Ukraine as he came under pressure over the UK’s mean-spirited approach.
The Prime Minister has drawn criticism from his own side with Tory former chief whip Julian Smith urging him to “look again” at the British visa process.
The UK has handed out just 850 visas - despite more than 22,000 applications - to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
Some of the refugees said they have been told the pop-up visa operation won’t be up and running until Friday.
But the government insisted it would be working from tomorrow.
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Clare Moseley, founder of the Care4Calais charity, said: “The problem here is there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty.
“It is making the lives of upset people even more difficult.”
Some refugees expressed bemusement they were now travelling 70 miles closer to Ukraine and away from Britain.
Several actually drove through Lille seven days ago as they made their way to Calais.
But there was certainly a relief from those onboard.
One little girl sat on the back seat and excitedly waved a fluffy pink rabbit.
Another gave a cheery wave as the bus pulled out from the side road next to the youth hostel.
Mums and dads clambered up the coach stairs after placing all their worldly possessions in large shopping bags and battered suitcases in the boot.
One family had three guinea pigs as they tried to get across the channel to get to relatives in Worcester.
Mum Halina Bolotina, 40, husband Andriy 47, daughters Anna, 17, Tatiana, 11 and Maria 7 escaped from Kyiv.
Their house was flattened by a shell.
They drove to Calais and are trying to get to Worcester Anna Bolotina said: “We just want to get the family and the guinea pigs safely to England.
“We hope that the visas will be issued soon. We’ve been told we now need to go to Paris for an interview. It’s been a nightmare.”
The second bus headed 200 miles to Paris. Others were given lifts in rented cars 130 miles to Brussels.
It was confirmed 87 people left the Calais youth hostel today.
Most Ukrainians have now left the Channel port but there are some left trying to work out the best way of getting to the UK.
Their presence has embarrassed the British government as the debacle over visas continued.
One couple left in a Ukrainian taxi they had driven all the way from Kyiv.
Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart arrived to see some of the families leave.
She accused British authorities of “filtering” through families who have fled war in Ukraine.
Speaking to the Mirror outside the youth hostel, she said: “The refugees aren’t being treated in a humanitarian way.
“The British are filtering refugees. They are choosing between people who have escaped the war.
“Humanity doesn’t work like that. They refuse refugees from their border but do it on the French territory of Calais.
“It all depends on what the British government will decide. If they will deliver the visas or not - it all rests on that.”
The British government wanted to get as many Ukrainian refugees out of Calais as soon as possible.
They have been widely criticised for allowing the families to get so close to the UK without having any infrastructure to help them.
Unlike many other European countries, Britain has insisted on maintaining tough security checks on people applying for sanctuary on its shores.
But the process has primarily been slowed down by the chaotic Home Office response to stepping up visa processing facilities across Europe.
Government insiders revealed tonight that the Ministry of Defence will send 100 soldiers, not in uniform, to help Home Office staff with logistical aspects of visa applications.
A new ‘pop-up’ visa processing centre has now been in Lille, but it will not offer appointments or walk-in access for those seeing to come to the UK.
The most vulnerable cases in Calais will be taken there for biometrics but the Home Office is not publicising the location and capacity will be small.
Instead, the number of appointments available across the EU will be increased tenfold to 6,000 per week - though it is not clear when - with more staff at existing centres such as Paris and Brussels.
There are currently only two routes for Ukrainians to come to the UK - those with family in the UK can live and work in the country freely for at least three years.
Those without family links will be able to come in for 12 months under a sponsorship scheme, but its details will only be confirmed later this week.
Boris Johnson said the second route would allow everybody to “offer a home to people fleeing Ukraine”.
But government sources were unable to say if that meant people would be able to put up Ukrainians in their spare room.
During a tense Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson insisted checks were needed because the Kremlin had singled out Britain over its stance on the crisis in Ukraine.
He claimed “no one has been turned away” despite reports of chaos at Calais, where arrivals have been told to travel to Paris or Brussels to get their visas.
Senior Tory MPs have told Priti Patel to “get a grip” as thousands of Ukrainians struggled to book visa appointments across Europe.
And Cabinet ministers were said to have rounded on the Home Secretary over her department’s slow pace in processing visas.
“It quickly became clear she was just going round in circles,” one source said. “She squirmed and hated it”.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain demanded a “simplified” process for refugees fleeing to the UK - and revealed his own wife struggled to get a visa prior to the Russia conflict.
Vadym Prystaiko called for an end to the “bureaucratic” processes which are hampering asylum seekers’ attempts to flee to Britain.
