Although the cameras are funded by Britain, officers from the UK Border Force and National Crime Agency will not have access to any of the images. They will be passed to local French councils that submitted requests for sites in their areas.

As many as 20 municipalities in the Pas-de-Calais region are understood to have come forward to benefit from the funding.

Council staff are currently travelling to areas of interest to work out the best locations for the cameras with a hope of mobilising the UK cash by March 31 to get them up and running.

Costs for the project, known as “Terminus”, will be covered by the so-called Treaty of Sandhurst, signed by the UK and France in 2018 to strengthen measures against migrants crossing the Channel.

The cameras will have four heads for 360 degree coverage and will be more advanced than the usual CCTV systems in French towns. Some, placed at strategic points along the coast, will use automatic number plate recognition technology to check for suspect vehicles.

Images will be centralised to police and gendarmerie services in Arras, 70 miles away, where local security can be sent to any suspicious activity. It is hoped the new surveillance network, comprising at least 38 cameras so far, will also prevent the theft of boat engines.

Sangatte applied for funding due to the “proven risk” crossings pose to men, women and children who attempt the perilous 21-mile journey. The cameras – 12 in total, clustered in pairs or trios – will stretch from near the Port of Calais to just before Cap Blanc Nez.

As well as 12 in Sangatte and 14 in Wissant, there will be seven installed in Ambleteuse, where there is no video protection, and a further five in Audresselles.