Channel crossings: Migrants wrapped in blankets reach Dover

The Home Office has been contacted for a comment

Migrants, bundled in blankets and foil, have arrived in Dover after journeying across the Channel,

Temperatures at the Kent port hovered around 7C while a woman and a group of men were seen being helped ashore by Border Force officials,.

The Home Office said 59 people on four boats crossed the Channel on Friday.

On Thursday two boats with 24 people made the crossing, with the French authorities stopping 147 people leaving French shores over the last two days.

The migrants were wrapped in blankets and brought to shore

Numbers of people making the dangerous crossing aboard small boats have rocketed this year.

According to figures collated by the BBC about 8,000 migrants in small boats have been taken into the care of Border Force officials, having reached UK shores or been intercepted in the Channel.

That is despite Home Secretary Priti Patel's vow in 2019 to make such journeys an "infrequent phenomenon".