France proving worth of £660m migrant deal after intercepting two-thirds of boats bound for Britain

France stopped two-thirds of small boats bound for Britain last month, new figures have revealed with ministers hailing the reduction as proving the value of the £660m deal to slash Channel crossings.

According to Home Office data, 53 boats carrying illegal migrants were seized by French authorities during May, while 29 made it to Britain uncontested - meaning only 35 per cent of attempted crossings proved successful.

The revised £660million deal for heightened beach patrols and more robust enforcement in the Channel from French enforcement officials was struck back in April.

Compared to previous months, the interception rate in May was up four per cent over the rest of the year, with 1,273 individuals prevented from reaching British soil.

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While a significant number of boats were stopped in their tracks, 1,924 migrants successfully made the journey - 40 per cent of individuals who attempted the crossing.

Alex Norris, minister for border security and asylum, said the fresh figures demonstrated a significant improvement for the Government in tackling the crisis.

He said: "Our work with France is cracking down on small boat launches and stopping the criminal smuggling gangs in their tracks.

"This builds on the 44,000 small boat crossing attempts prevented since the election."

Mr Norris pointed to new specialist French police units in place this summer, and said the Government will use "every tool at our disposal" to restore integrity to the UK border.

Home Office data puts the recorded number of successful crossings so far this year at 9,142 - a sizeable drop from the 15,212 over the same period of 2025.

Border Force reports described the drop in quality of migrant smuggler vessels, equipped with less powerful motors and less durable exteriors against the harsh weather conditions.

With crossings being intercepted from Calais, many boats have begun launching from farther north, with one in four boats taking off from beaches in Belgium in an attempt to avoid authorities.

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