A small boat has crossed the English Channel carrying 230 people, the largest-ever recorded number to make the journey in a single vessel.

The boat arrived in the UK in the early hours of Monday.

The 230 people on one boat breaks the previous record from July when 165 people made the crossing on a single vessel.

A Home Office spokesperson said this latest incident demonstrated the "reckless and dangerous tactics employed by criminal gangs... who continue to put lives at risk by cramming ever greater numbers of people onto unseaworthy vessels".

Provisional Home Office figures for the number of people who have crossed the Channel to the UK this year so far is 14,819 - 43% lower than the number recorded by this time last year, and down 16% on the same period in 2024.

Earlier this month, more than 170 people were rescued after the boat they were using to make the crossing caught fire.

On X, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "At 2.30am this morning a boat carrying 230 people was taken into Dover.

"This is a record number in a single vessel.

"It's yet more proof that this illegal invasion is a national security emergency."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.

"But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches."

Source : BBC