'One in, one out' migrant deportation flights are due to start next week after the new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said they would begin 'imminently'.
The scheme, signed off in July, saw the first Channel arrivals detained on August 6, with the inaugural flight understood to be pencilled in for as early as Monday.
New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, tasked with ramping up the UK's response to small boat crossings, said she expected returns to begin 'imminently.'
Removal notices have already been served on asylum seekers who arrived last month, warning they will be sent back to France within five days.
Crossings have now topped 30,000 this year, the fastest point on record. It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 30,000 mark has been passed since data on the crossings was first reported in 2018.
