Coastguard coordinates number of small boat rescues

According to the latest figures, 28,076 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year so far

The coastguard has coordinated a number of small boats rescues in the English Channel, it has been confirmed.

It is understood that hundreds of people were attempting to cross from Calais to Dover.

Declining to comment on specific crossings, the Home Office said that any made on Monday will be confirmed by updated figures published on Tuesday.

According to the latest figures, a record 28,076 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year and 212 migrants in four boats crossed the Channel on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "HM Coastguard will continue to safeguard life around the seas and coastal areas of the UK, working with search and rescue partners and resources.

"We are only concerned with preservation of life, rescuing those in distress and bringing them safely back to shore, where they will be handed over to the relevant partner emergency services or authorities."

The returns deal struck with France forms part of the Home Office's efforts to clamp down on small boat crossings.

Since 5 August the respective governments have been operating a system which proposes that for each migrant the UK returns to France, another migrant with a strong case for asylum in Britain will come the other way.

Thousands of migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since the agreement with France took effect.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.

"That is why this government is implementing a serious and comprehensive plan to break the business model of the gangs, including enhanced cooperation with France to prevent small boat crossings and pilot a scheme to detain and return small boat migrants back to France."