Gary Edgecombe, of Camperdown Road, Salcombe, writes:

I’d start by saying that Barry Vaughan’s letter about the ­situation in Calais, Gazette, February 19, made me laugh, were it not a far-from-amusing matter.

His graphic and necessarily heartbreaking descriptions can be gleaned from even the ­lowliest of the red-top news­papers, and yet he’s still not alone in failing to grasp the fundamentals of this issue.

Regardless of the bombing, the shooting and the undoubted living hell that these unfortunate people are going through, this shop is definitely shut.

We cannot provide adequate social housing for our own ­citizens, yet these folks seem to be housed as a matter of policy. That’s not just my opinion, it’s fact.

Benefit payments are ­automatic, while we get ­clobbered with a ‘bedroom tax’, presumably to help finance it.

Child benefit goes abroad to these people: I can certainly see France, Germany or Italy ­sanctioning that… I don’t think.

Finally, Mr Vaughan, have you actually travelled through Calais recently? I have.

The chief topic of conversation among the migrants was accommodation and benefits – chiefly, how to obtain either or both.

We don’t have the facilities or the room, Mr Vaughan. But when people such as me say as much, certain other people brand us as racist.