New record as 900 migrants cross Channel in small boats in just 24 hours
MORE than 900 migrants have been intercepted in small boats crossing the Channel in one day.
It is thought to be the largest number attempting to reach the UK in one 24-hour period so far this year.
UK authorities intercepted 405 in 12 boats on Tuesday, while the French stopped another 538 people in 11 boats.
Among those to arrive were several children, including a baby, who were brought to shore by an RNLI lifeboat at Dungeness, Kent.
More than 2,500 have crossed the Channel since the start of the year, after 28,526 made the perilous trip in 2021.
A Home Office spokeswoman said joint operations with the French had "prevented more than 23,000 migrant attempts" in 2021 and 19 small boat organised criminal groups had been dismantled with 400 arrests since July 2020.
Read more on the migrant crisis
Tom Pursglove, minister for justice and tackling illegal migration, said: "The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.
"Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes.
"Rightly, the British public has had enough."
