Britain could be forced to pay for a new French ‘maritime intervention force’ that escorts migrant small boats away from England.
The radical plan would see fast patrol craft surrounding the dinghies packed with passengers, who would then be ‘guided back to French ports, in the safest manner possible’, according to an emergency services source in Calais.
But Home Office sources said the idea had ‘never been brought up in our conversations with the French’ and downplayed any suggestion that the UK would face a new bill.
It comes after French naval officers joined police in objecting to plans that would let them intercept small boats in open sea.
Currently, once boats are in the water the French authorities are not legally allowed to approach and make arrests, for safety reasons.
