Five boats caught crossing the English Channel in one day

An estimated 57 migrants were detected in the Channel on Wednesday, meaning more than 500 will have crossed this month alone.

More than 2,000 are known to have reached the UK in boats this year, while the current total for June is on the cusp of eclipsing a record number in a single month.

The five boats were picked up off the Kent coast - with another one reportedly sent back to France.

Good visibility and warm weather made conditions perfect for crossing the Dover Strait shipping lane.

So far this month, 496 migrants have reached Britain in small boats, with the crossings today set to send the figure soaring past 500.

The record for the number of crossings from Northern France to the UK in a single month stands at 558 as of April.

It comes a day after 15 refugees in one vessel were rescued off the Kent coast.

Throughout this year, a staggering 2,226 refugees have reached the UK in Channel crossings.

Furthermore, it emerged last week that none of the 1,100 migrants who arrived in Britain illegally by boat over a recent seven-week spell have been deported - despite persistent pledges from Priti Patel.

The Home Secretary consistently vowed to eradicate crossings and return those who enter the country illegally, but just 155 of nearly 4,000 migrants have been sent back since January last year, figures showed.

That figure of 155 emerged at the beginning of May, and represented just five per cent of the 2,839 who arrived from the start of 2019, but the Home Office conceded last week that number remains the same - meaning none of the 1,138 who have landed in small boats in the last month-and-a-half have been returned.