Coastguard makes desperate plea as migrants on boats make them too busy for rescues

for illegal migrants in the Channel yesterday (Saturday) meant the coastguard had to issue an urgent appeal to fishing boats to help a yacht and kayaks which were in danger at sea. It's reported all UK Border Force vessels were racing to help at least 15 small boats packed full of migrants which had launched from northern France under the noses of French authorities.

reports the coastguard put out the appeal as the agency, along with the RNLI and Border Force, dealt with the huge number of dangerously-overloaded flimsy vessels carrying at least 50 migrants each, including children. Seven French ships, and even a warship, were also involved in the huge use of resources to police Saturday's migrant crossing.

It's thought more than 1,000 migrants could have made the Channel crossing to the UK, which would smash a previous record for one day of 825 set on May 21.

the coastguard issued a call for fishing boats to assist a yacht, which was taking on water, and kayaks in trouble. Defending the use of fishing craft to assist, the coastguard said co-ordinating multiple simultaneous incidents is "not unusual", and it stressed "at no time was public safety compromised".

Civilian craft and commercial vessels have a duty under maritime law and conventions to assist other vessels in distress at sea, including those in collision and those in distress.

France has agreed to change its rules so police can prevent people in the water from getting on to boats, but this has not yet come into effect, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said in recent weeks.

She has been urging the French to make the changes so their maritime forces can intervene in shallow waters as soon as possible, it is understood. But photographic evidence from Satruday showed officers still unwilling or unable to stop craft from launching from beaches at Gravelines, a French commune east of Calais.

Despite Britain paying France a staggering £480 million to combat the small boat crossings, this week new Home Office figures revealed that France is intercepting fewer Channel migrants than at any time in the past.

This year is on course to set a record for Channel crossings, with more than 13,000 people having arrived so far, up 30% on this point last year.

French officials claim Britain is fuelling the migrant crisis and attracting more crossings by appearing like the mythical South American city of gold, El Dorado. Didier Leschi, the director of the French Office of Immigration and Integration, said the UK was making it easy for illegal migrants to get work, adding: "The issue for England is to have an internal system that appears to be an El Dorado - and probably wrongly so - since it's a country where you can work very easily without having a residence permit."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

"That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.

"Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders."