Border Force intercepts five migrant boats, taking arrivals for April to over 400 - the highest monthly total ever recorded

More than 70 migrants have been brought into Dover on Friday. It means April will be a record month for crossings as the total could already exceed 400, compared to the previous record of at least 336 refugees known to have landed last August. 

The 76 migrants arrived from locations including Iran, Yemen, Syria and Kuwait between 1am and 8am and are now being assessed by immigration officials, a spokeswoman for the Home Office said.

The total number of migrants believed to have crossed into the UK so far this year is at least 831 - fast approaching half of the 1,850 who made it to England throughout the whole of 2019.  

In a separate incident, French rescue teams were called out to sea after a group of 16 migrants were thought to have gone overboard.

The news comes a week after another 73 migrants made the crossing to Kent, prompting the Home Secretary Priti Patel to say she was 'determined' to stop illegal Channel crossings.

Since January 2019, only approximately 155 people who entered the UK illegally on small boats have been returned to Europe.