Almost 200 migrants crossed the Channel on Monday as people smugglers continued to exploit improving conditions.

Some 183 people were crammed onto three boats as a Home Office source admitted a 'surge' was always likely in the first few days of calm seas.

It came just 24 hours after almost nearly 600 people made the dangerous journey on Sunday, with smugglers making the most of the calm weather in the busy shipping straits.

Some 843 people have successfully made it to Britain in 15 boats - an average of 56 people per boat.

At least five people are thought to have died while attempting the crossing, with French mayors calling for more help to deal with the bodies washing up on their shores.

So far in 2025, 2,899 people from 54 boats have been brought to the Port of Dover by Border Force teams.

In total in 2024 36,816 people successfully reached the UK using 695 dangerous inflatables.

Former Border Force Director General Tony Smith told the Daily Express that the Channel migrant crisis and people exploiting “weaknesses in our visa system” to “dupe” officials into letting them into the UK should be triggering more alarm bells in Whitehall.

Mr Smith, the Head of Border Control in the UK Immigration Service between 2005 and 2007 said: “Notwithstanding measures by successive governments to reduce asylum intake, we are back where we started. In fact, it's got worse.”

He added: It is no surprise that Stéphane Pinto, the mayor of Ambleteuse just south of Calais, has called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to “come and look at our beaches”.

"Hundreds of migrants are in unsanitary camps without running water in and around the French port waiting to get over here.

"In 2025 so far 2,716 asylum seekers have made the journey across the English Channel, which is far higher than the 2,225 that had made that trip by this time last year. And it’s only going to get worse in this good weather."

Migrants face up to five years in prison if they refuse to be rescued in the Channel by the French authorities, Yvette Cooper has confirmed.

The Home Secretary said a new offence will be created to target those endangering another life during a small boat crossing.

This means anyone fighting with French police on the beaches, holding children over the edge of a small boat or “rushing” vessels as they try to launch could all be prosecuted, with a maximum penalty of five years behind bars.

Criminals caught selling or handling small boat parts, such as engines or lifejackets, could also be jailed for up to 14 years as the Home Office will make it “illegal to supply or handle items suspected of being for use by organised crime groups”.

Officials believe they could even extradite criminals operating in countries such as Turkey and prosecute them under this new law.

Ms Cooper has outlined Labour’s plan to end the Channel migrant crisis, insisting giving Border Force counter-terrorism-style powers will allow the UK to “identify, disrupt and smash people smuggling gangs” faster.

The Home Office said “anyone involved in the physical aggression, intimidation or coercive behaviour, including preventing offers of rescue, while at sea will face prosecution and an increased sentence of up to five years in prison.”

Former police chief Mr Hewitt, who took up the role of Border Security Commander just three months ago, will be able to call meetings with other law enforcement agencies to order more action on Channel crossings.

Immigration officers and police will also be able to seize phones, laptops and other electronic devices before they arrest anyone if they are suspected of “containing information about organised immigration crime”.

Home Office sources warn Border Force officers often face "floating crime scenes", with traumatised migrants unable to speak about the horrors of the fatal crossings.

And the only way to access the vital intelligence on their devices, with the vast majority having paid a smuggler or a facilitator to cross the Channel, is to arrest them.

Officials believe changing the law to allow phone seizures before an arrest will let them gain vital clues on the criminal gangs without having to detain the asylum seekers.

The law changes are designed to replicate powers in the Terrorism Act 2006, so that preparing for a crossing and possession of equipment such as boats, engines and life jackets would be a criminal offence if the intention was to use them to take migrants across the Channel.