More than 400 small boat migrants cross English Channel today just hours after two died

At least 400 illegal migrants have crossed the English Channel today, just hours after two women died when their boat got into difficulties near Boulogne.

GB News can confirm that the occupants of six migrant dinghies have already been taken to Dover harbour in Kent.

Earlier today, French authorities confirmed the two female migrants died when the so-called taxi boat got into trouble around 3am as dozens of people tried to scramble on board.

Despite this incident, boats continue to make the crossing, with over 200 having set off from France by 9am.

This follows a surge in small boat arrivals on Saturday, where more than 360 illegal migrants arrived at the Border Force processing centre in Dover harbour.

Following the crossings yesterday, a senior maritime source told the People's Channel: "People smugglers pushed off boats from well into Belgium, all the way down to a beach at Treport, south of the Somme.

"That's almost 100 miles of coastline the criminal gangs are using for launches on the same day.

"It's an obvious effort to avoid the beach patrols, which are normally concentrated around the Dunkirk and Calais areas.

This in turn follows 55 migrants who arrived on Friday, bringing the total to just under 800 in three days.

This takes the total number of illegal arrivals for the year so far to over 7,200.

The latest surge in crossings comes a little more than a week after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year agreement to pay France £662million to boost their beach patrols.

The deal is intended to increase the number of French police on coastal patrol duties from around 700 to 1,100.

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The Home Office said the arrangement would see officers “targeting and detaining” migrants on the French coast, with the aim of removing hundreds of small boat migrants from beaches every year to stop them entering the water.

It means the UK will hand over £501million to cover five police units and enforcement activity on French beaches - with an extra £160million only paid if new tactics to curb Channel crossings succeed.

If efforts fail, the additional funding will stop after a year, the Home Office said.

Despite the arrangements being struck, ministers have stopped short of setting specific targets to measure the success of the deal.

Close to 71,000 illegal migrants have arrived since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister and promised to "smash the gangs".

The Home Secretary previously told GB News there was "no one silver bullet that can end this crisis".

However, Ms Mahmood said she was confident the extra security resources on French beaches will impact the activities of the criminal gangs.