More than 400 illegal migrants crossed the Channel to reach Britain in a new record

More than 400 illegal migrants crossed the Channel to reach Britain in a new record, as ministers revealed nearly 1,000 have been identified for deportation.

It is 100 more than the previous record of 300 as around 27 boats, some carrying children and toddlers, on Wednesday reached UK territorial waters despite the French preventing a further 100 leaving their beaches. It followed 145 migrants who reached the UK in 18 boats on Tuesday.

The surge, following a record monthly total of 1,500 during August, came as immigration minister Chris Philp revealed that the Home Office was planning to deport nearly 1,000 Channel migrants back to EU countries, the equivalent to a fifth of the total so far this year.

He told MPs that the migrants – largely from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait and Syria – had been identified as having previously claimed asylum in EU countries and “under regulations should be returned there”.

Mr Philp said there would be “a large number of flights in coming weeks and months” to remove the migrants from the UK despite an aborted attempt last on Friday, August 28, which saw a charter flight to Spain with 23 on board halted by last-minute legal appeals on human rights grounds.

Mr Philp claimed in the House of Commons that the legal action had been “intentionally logged at the last minute” in order to give the Home Office no option but to pull the flight. However, he said the Government would not be deterred.

Earlier Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to rewrite regulations on removing migrants from the UK after Brexit to ensure that Britain was no longer a “target and a magnet for those who would exploit vulnerable people in this way”.

He told MPs:  "I have a great deal of sympathy with those who are so desperate as to put their children in dinghies or even children's paddling pools and try to cross the Channel.

"But I have to say what they're doing is falling prey to criminal gangs and they are breaking the law. They're also undermining the legitimate claims of others who would seek asylum in this country.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel is working on a “fair borders bill,” to be introduced this year, which would stop people drawing out the asylum applications process by making them declare all their grounds for refugee status when they apply, rather than being able to submit new reasons later.

Ms Patel also met former Australian prime minster Tony Abbott on Wednesday where they discussed how Britain could solve its channel migrants crisis.

Mr Abbott introduced Australia’s controversial 'push back' policy where boats carrying migrants were blocked from entering the country’s water.

It was branded illegal by the UN although it successfully reduced numbers from 5,000 a year to virtually none.

A UK Government source said: “There's lots of lessons to be learned from what Australia did. They get it down from 5,000 to zero. We will be looking at what they did. We are looking at anything with this many migrants arriving."

The Home Office did not confirm the numbers on Wednesday although sources suggested it was a new record as rain and wind at the end of August gave way to sunshine and calm seas on Wednesday.

At least 100 people were brought into Dover on Wednesday morning, packed aboard Border Force patrol vessels and sitting on lifeboats. Some of the suspected migrants smiled and waved as they arrived into the busy port while others carried toddlers too young to walk.

There are also multiple reports of people landing on beaches in Kent. Several empty dinghies with outboard motors attached were also seen being towed into the port throughout the morning.

Dan O’Mahoney, the newly-appointed “clandestine channel threat commander,” will on Thursday update the Commons home affairs committee on his efforts to forge a new agreement with the French to take a tougher stand on halting the crossings.

Analysis of Home Office figures being published on Thursday will show that since 2015, the number of undocumented migrants leaving Britain voluntarily quarterly fell from about 4,000 to fewer than 2,000 at the end of last year. At the same time, the number of "controlled returns" supervised by the Home Office fell from about 3,000 to less than 1,000 according to the Institute for Public Policy Research seen by The Times.

The think tank cited '"systemic flaws" with the hostile environment strategy spearheaded by Theresa May during her time as home secretary.