Germany has signalled the “Schengen’s death knell” by closing its borders to illegal migrants and asylum seekers, a Reform UK MP has warned.

Berlin said it will introduce controls for six months but stressed the EU must ensure “strong protection” of its “external borders”.

The move has prompted fury from neighbouring countries, with Austria and Poland slamming the “unacceptable” move and signalling they will not accept illegal migrants rejected by the German authorities.

The Schengen zone allows people to cross borders without passport checks and is a key cornerstone of the EU.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice warned: “Germany shuts borders and signals Schengen’s death knell.

“Mass immigration is making European citizens less safe.”

Germany has told the European Commission about its plans, insisting they are within the rules.

The measures are justified, Berlin has told Brussels, because of the “persistently high overall burden on Germany” and “protection of internal security against the current threats of Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime”.

German interior minister Nancy Faeser said: “We are strengthening our security through concrete action and we are continuing our tough stance against irregular migration.

“Until we achieve strong protection of the EU’s external borders, we must control our national borders even more closely. These controls also enable effective rejections. This serves to further limit illegal migration [and] to protect against the acute dangers of Islamist terror.”

Austrian authorities have already warned Berlin that it won’t accept illegal migrants intercepted at the border.

Austria's Foreign Minister Gerhard Karner told Bild: “There's no room for manoeuvre there. 'I have directed the Head of the federal police to not allow any returns. Austria will not accept any persons rejected from Germany.”

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk slammed the measures as 'unacceptable', saying his country would consult with the other nations impacted.

Tusk added: “These kinds of actions are unacceptable from Poland's point of view.

“Rather than greater controls of our border, Poland needs greater participation of countries, including Germany, in guarding and securing the European Union's external borders,” he added.

Channel migrants are also known to regularly stay in Germany, with homes identified in Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf, Bochum and Dortmund.

They are given key pieces of information for their journeys and structures are put in place to ensure the smuggling business continues to run smoothly between crossings.

Researchers from the Global Initiative against Organised Crime said: “The smugglers will rent a property in these towns and fill it with migrants or use an intermediary who can provide a property.

“Some migrants, however, choose to stay closer to the coastal areas, often in hotels that are known for accommodating almost exclusively migrants, refugees and low-level smugglers during the Summer months, when weather conditions are more amenable for the crossing.

“These hotels are among the cheaper options on offer and in some cases reportedly provide additional services, such as shipping migrants’ luggage to the UK upon arrival.

“They also act as recruitment hubs for smugglers and some hotels reportedly offer discounts on accommodation for smugglers’ clients.”

Charities working in France have identified vehicles with Belgian, German and Dutch number plates at a notorious migrant camp near Dunkirk.