The French coastguard has rescued more than 100 people after their dinghy broke down in the English Channel, less than a week after the UK signed a new agreement with Paris this week to curb crossings.
Several people got into difficulty while trying to climb into the boat, including a woman who lost consciousness and had to be evacuated by helicopter, the maritime authority said.
The so-called “taxi boat” was spotted travelling east along the coast towards Wimereux to pick up people during the early hours of Sunday morning.
The “taxi boat” people-smuggling tactic, designed to avoid detection by police, involves dinghies travelling along the coast with just a driver to pre-designated beaches where migrants wade into the water to climb on board.
The dinghy later broke down during its crossing attempt, and the 106 migrants on board had to be moved onto a rescue ship before being take to Calais, French authorities said.
It comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year agreement with France on Thursday to pay £662 million to support beach patrols as part of efforts to drive down the number of arrivals.
The Home Office said the arrangement would see officers “targeting and detaining” migrants on the French coast with the aim of removing hundreds of small boat migrants from beaches every year to stop them entering the water.
It means the UK will hand over £501 million to cover five police units and enforcement activity on French beaches – with an extra £160 million only paid if new tactics to curb Channel crossings succeed.
If efforts fail, the additional funding will stop after a year, the Home Office said.
But ministers have stopped short of setting specific targets to measure the success of the deal.
So far this year, more than 6,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after making the journey, down 36% on the number this time last year, Press Association analysis of Government figures shows.
More than 70,000 have arrived since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.
On Saturday, a group of more than a dozen people, including women and children, were pictured being brought into the Border Security Command compound in Dover after being collected in the Channel.
