New bid to send illegal Channel arrivals home 'within hours' of them arriving

Priti Patel is launching a ‘rapid removal’ scheme to deal with a surge in Channel crossings by Albanian migrants.

The Home Secretary has struck a deal with her Albanian counterpart to see them ‘fast-tracked’ back to their country on planes chartered by the Home Office.

Under the scheme, which starts next week, any Albanians who claim asylum will have their cases processed immediately. Those with no right to be in the UK will be removed as soon as possible.

Some could be sent back ‘within hours’, sources suggested.

Senior Albanian police officers will come here to work alongside UK immigration officials, with officials back in Tirana primed to receive planes at short notice.

Miss Patel is under pressure to deliver results on the Channel crisis after her Rwanda asylum flights were left in limbo by legal challenges.