Border Force officials hit out at 'inconsistent' French policing after busiest Channel crossing day of the year

Senior Border Force officials have hit out at the "inconsistent" response of French police to Channel migrant crossings after the busiest day for small boat arrivals so far this year.

The criticism came after 752 migrants crossed the English Channel in nine boats on Wednesday, while four people died attempting the perilous journey overnight.

According to The Times, British officials were left frustrated by what they saw as contradictory policing on French beaches, where officers intervened in one incident but stood back in another under near-identical circumstances.

The deaths have renewed concerns over the dangers posed by the crossings, with criminal smuggling gangs continuing to adapt their tactics along the northern French coastline.

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The newspaper reported that French gendarmes declined to intervene after a migrant boat became stranded on a beach, saying they were not authorised to enter the water.

However, officers later entered the sea to disable another dinghy in similar circumstances.

"It's quite frustrating because it's not consistent," a senior Border Force source told The Times.

"There is a degree of latitude and they do go in sometimes when there's a safe opportunity to do so."

The source said land-based officers fear criminal liability if someone dies during an intervention, meaning they are generally prohibited from entering the water.

Only specialist units with riot and crowd-control training are authorised to carry out such operations.

The reported absence of those specialist units on one of the busiest crossing days of the year has further fuelled frustration in Britain.

France pledged in April to deploy 125 officers from two specialist units to tackle small boat launches, including 50 members of the Compagnies Republicaines de Securite (CRS) and officers from the newly created Compagnie de Marche.

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Despite forecasts indicating favourable crossing conditions for several days, the newspaper reported that neither specialist unit was deployed to the beaches on Wednesday.

A Home Office source described the absence of those officers on such a critical day as "frustrating" and "far from ideal".

The criticism came as four migrants lost their lives attempting the crossing.

A man in his thirties died after a dinghy overturned while migrants were trying to board at Hardelot beach, around 30 miles south of Calais.

Six others were taken to hospital after almost drowning, while another person with severe burns was airlifted by a French naval helicopter.

Hours later, a French rescue vessel responding to a distress call near Dunkirk discovered three women unconscious aboard a so-called "taxi boat".

A Home Office spokesman said the Government was "deeply saddened" by the deaths, describing them as "a stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people for profit".

Border Force sources also warned that organised smuggling gangs are becoming increasingly violent, with an automatic firearm recovered from a migrant camp last week.

"There is a regular drumbeat of firearms being found. The gangs controlling the crossings are involved in proper criminality," one insider said.

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