More than 500 illegal migrants crossed the English Channel over the past 12 hours, it has been claimed. A total of 11 boats carrying 737 people made the crossing on December 13, according to Home Office figures.

This ends a 28-day run of no vessels making the crossing which was the longest period of no small boat crossings since 2018. It brings the total number of people making the Channel crossing so far this year to 40,029, surpassing 2024, when there were 36,816 for the entire year. The last time more than 40,000 migrants crossed in a year was in 2022 when the total for the year was 45,755.

Witnesses said that between 55 and 80 people had been crammed into 40-ft inflatable boats.

The French Maritime Prefect said it had received reports of several migrant vessels departing on Saturday.

At approximately 10.50am, four people are said to have fallen in the sea in the Sangatte area. They were recovered from the water, all four of them suffering from hypothermia.

At 2.14pm, a small boat suffered from engine failure and 28 migrants were recovered before the vessel restarted and continued its journey across the Channel.

The prefect said in a statement: “Given the structural fragility of systematically overloaded boats, the choice is made not to force migrants to embark on the (French) state’s rescue means, to avoid endangering their lives in the event of a shipwreck.”

MORE TO FOLLOW