Border Force and a lifeboat reached the small boat before it arrived on shore.
A small boat packed with migrants reportedly left France undetected before Border Force picked it up (Image: Getty)
A small boat packed with migrants reportedly left France undetected before Border Force picked it up near UK waters. The vessel was said to have been two miles off the coast of Kent before it was intercepted.
Border Force and a lifeboat got to the dinghy before it reached the shore during a weekend which reportedly saw 950 migrants arrive in Dover, according to GB News. If confirmed, the figures would push the total number of migrants arriving in the UK since Andy Burnham entered No.10 up to 2,500.
It is understood that calmer weather conditions in the English Channel provided an opportunity to launch boats from the continent after a five day hiatus.
Small boat arrivals have been dropping this year with around 14,000 people crossing the Channel between January and July. This is 43% fewer than last year.
Mihnea Cuibus, a Senior Researcher at The Migration Observatory at Oxford University, said about 30,000 people arrived in small boats in the year ending July 31.
Mr Cuibus said government policies may have helped bring about the drop, including limits on family reunion.
He said unauthorised arrivals into the European Union have fallen since 2025, which “may ultimately lead to fewer crossings to the UK”.
Last week a “mega-dinghy” capsized in the Channel after its engine caught fire. Authorities in France said 173 people were rescued by French vessels, helped by two British Border Security Command boats and an RNLI lifeboat. They were taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer.
It was the largest single vessel to attempt to cross the Channel carrying migrants.
The dinghy, which left the beach at Veules-les-Roses, near Dieppe, caught fire in the French search and rescue region on Tuesday, August 4, according to the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
A total of 63 migrants were taken to France on the British vessels. There were no reported fatalities.
The total number on the boat broke the previous record of 165 who reached the UK late last month in a 13-metre (42ft) boat. The previous record, in the same month, was 128 people.