Migrants rescued in the Channel after making Christmas Day bid for Britain
The UK Border Force had picked up the 40 people, which includes children, who were taking advantage of reduced shipping on Christmas Day
DOZENS of migrants crossed the Channel in small boats yesterday taking advantage of reduced shipping on Christmas Day.
The UK Border Force picked up 40 people, including women and children, in five vessels in the early hours.
Many were treated for extreme exposure and hypothermia after making the perilous crossing from France in freezing conditions.
Growing numbers of migrants are using dinghies and rowing boats to reach the Kent coast.
The arrivals - thought to be the most on a single day - takes the total to more than 200 in the past two months.
Eyewitness Lee Buzzle, 43, saw a group of eight migrants, including a teenage girl, huddled around a fire after their dinghy washed up on a beach in Folkestone at around 3am.
Lee, a landscape gardener, told The Sun: "They were all suffering from hypothermia and had built a fire. They looked desperate. The police came after about half an hour and took them all away."
The Home Office said the group was made up of seven Iranian men and an Afghan girl. Four other boats were intercepted later in the morning.
At 5.50am, seven men and a woman were picked up from a dinghy in the Channel heading towards the UK.
An hour later, another dinghy was intercepted off the coast of Deal, Kent, with 12 men and one child on board.
Eleven of them said they were Iraqi while two were Iranian.
At 9.20am another two people were picked up in a small boat.
A further nine migrants were rescued from French waters and taken to the UK while their boat was returned to France due to engine failure.
All the adult migrants are due to be interviewed by immigration officials while the children have been referred to social services.
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Crossing the Strait of Dover - the busiest shipping lane in the world - in a small boat has been likened to dashing across the M25 on foot.
Criminal gangs who charge migrants thousands are said to be organising the crossings.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The evidence shows there is organised criminal gang activity behind illegal migration attempts by small boats across the Channel.
“We are working closely with the French and law enforcement partners to target these gangs, who exploit vulnerable people and put lives at risk.”
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