David Blunkett has welcomed an agreement with his French counterpart to close the Sangatte refugee camp.

The home secretary and his French opposite number, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced a closure date of November 15 for new refugees during talks in France.

And the camp will close completely in April at the latest, the two men agreed.

"We have achieved in three months what people thought a year ago was impossible," said Blunkett.

The screening and registration process for refugees currently at the camp will begin on Friday, it was also announced.

There will be a joint French/UK programme of voluntary returns involving the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration, and enforced returns of Sangatte residents "where necessary and possible".

Blunkett said both governments were sending a tough message to economic migrants.

"I want potential illegal immigrants to realise there is simply no point in coming to northern France as it is increasingly difficult to get into the UK.

"They need to know that the French and UK governments are taking firm action to cut abuse of asylum and illegal immigration. The abuse of systems put in place to protect genuine asylum seekers will not be tolerated," he said.

Blunkett also praised French "good faith" in rapidly building a secure fence around the Frethun rail freight depot near Calais to stop asylum seekers illegally boarding cross-Channel trains.

The home secretary said it was now time for Britain to repay the French government by toughening UK laws to deter would-be asylum seekers.

He said the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill would bring in some of the necessary measures.

"The new legislation will allow us to clamp down even harder on abuses such as clandestine entry, illegal working and unfounded claims while opening up new avenues of legal migration and offering a safe haven for those genuinely fleeing persecution," Blunkett said.

The Conservatives warned that the closure of the camp would "solve nothing".

"Sangatte is a symptom, not a cause, of the problem. The same number of asylum seekers will still be trying to cross the Channel and will go on doing so until we have a new Bilateral Agreement with France," said shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin

"An agreement enabling Britain to return asylum seekers who crossed the Channel from France within 24 hours operated extremely effectively until 1997, and dramatically reduced the number of applications in the UK.

"David Blunkett promised me earlier this year that he would reinstate this agreement, but he has failed to do so," Letwin added.

The French administration had agreed to close the Sangatte camp earlier this year - but only when the UK government toughened up its asylum policy.

The agreement followed a joint visit to Calais - where Britain has posted a new border guard to refuse entry to would-be asylum seekers before they set foot on British soil.

It was also announced that UK immigration officers will be placed in the Eurostar station in Brussels Gare du Midi.

"I am confident that UK immigration staff in Brussels will be as successful as their counterparts in the ports of France," said Blunkett.

"To establish these juxtaposed controls, legislative changes need to be made and these will not be immediate," he added.