The Prefecture of Manche spent £90,000 on deploying five boats and two helicopters to shadow the rickety vessel from Utah beach in Normandy towards England's South Coast.

A boat carrying 140 asylum seekers set off from the Baie de Seine in Normandy, around 300 miles from Calais, suggesting smugglers are opening new migrant routes to the UK.

Eight boats carrying 625 people arrived in the UK having crossed the English Channel on Sunday, Home Office data shows