Four people die after busiest day for small-boat crossings this year

Four people died trying to cross the Channel overnight after the busiest day for small-boat crossings so far this year saw 752 arrivals in the UK.

One man died after a vessel capsized off France's northern coast late on Wednesday, local officials said, with a one-year-old child among those hurt.

Eight hours later three people were found dead aboard a small boat early on Thursday after launching from Dunkirk overnight, some 100km (62 miles) up the coast.

French officials confirmed their deaths as the Home Office reported that Wednesday had the highest number of crossings in a single day this year, with nine boats reaching the UK.

Local authorities in France said the first boat capsized off the coast at Hardelot around 23:30 local time (21:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

The man is thought to have been in his thirties or forties, officials added. Six other people including the child sustained minor injuries.

Local officials said the vessel was a "taxi" boat - vessels which cruise along the coast and pick up their paying customers who are waiting in the sea.

Security officials "neutralised" the boat and an investigation into the incident has been launched.

The second boat launched from the Dunkirk area overnight and was spotted near a breakwater off the coast at 06:00, the French coastguard said.

Search and rescue officials subsequently found three unconscious people on board. Their deaths were later confirmed by emergency medical personnel.

A UK government spokesperson said: "Every death in the Channel is a tragedy and a stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people for profit."

A total of 162 people died in the English Channel between 2018 and 2025, according to the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory.

Small-boat crossings have become the most common way for people to be detected entering the UK illegally since 2020.

Wednesday's 752 arrivals bring the year's total provisional figure to 14,128, which is 42% lower than the number recorded by this time last year.

A record 165 migrants reached the UK in a single boat last week. Border Security Command was pictured towing a mega dinghy - estimated to be the same size as a standard bus at 13m (42ft) long - when it arrived in Dover on 23 July.

The Home Office has said its new £662m deal with France, signed in April, curbed dangerous crossings by "boosting enforcement action on beaches".