Some 711 people were detected crossing the English Channel on Wednesday, the highest number on a single day so far this year, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 8,278.

This is 34% higher than the total at the equivalent point last year, which was 6,192, and 19% higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 6,945.

Some 14 boats were detected on Wednesday, which suggests an average of around 51 people per boat.

A group of migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent by the RNLI on Tuesday after being picked up

The number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 8,278

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of the year 

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of a calendar year, jumping 34% on 2023 when 6,192 were recorded and up 19% on the total at this stage in 2022 (6,945).

Last year 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The number of people coming across the channel is 'unacceptable'. the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

'That is exactly why we need to get flights off the ground to Rwanda to provide the effective deterrent such that people know if they arrive here illegally they won't be able to stay here.'

He added: 'Whilst we've seen these high figures in recent weeks ... in the last 12 months small boats crossings are still down by 33% compared to 2022', citing work with French police and the deterrent effect of the Albania returns scheme as being among the reasons behind the drop.

He said the Rwanda scheme would provide a similar deterrent but declined to provide predictions on how much crossings could drop by after deportations to Rwanda begin.

Since the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law after receiving Royal Assent on Thursday last week, 1,611 migrants have made the journey in 32 boats. 

The highest-ever number of arrivals in a single day is 1,295 and was recorded on August 22, 2022. 

The news comes as a migrant boat packed with 66 people on board was rescued off Dieppe trying to cross the Channel - where the stretch of water between France and the UK is at least 65 miles wide.

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Men, women and children were on board the vessel when it got into difficulty on Wednesday morning off the coast of the French port.

Dieppe is 70 miles down the coast from Calais and Dunkirk where the vast majority of migrant crossings have been launched, heading to the Kent coast as the Channel is just 21 miles wide.

It is not clear at this stage if the boat had set off from the French coast near Dieppe, despite the greater journey distance, or if it had got lost and veered off course.

Lifeboats were scrambled to find the boat, the French authorities said.

A maritime coastguard vessel then found the stricken vessel and rescued the occupants.

Dozens of migrants made the crossing from the French coast near Calais on Wednesday and were intercepted by British Border Force vessels.

The French Prefecture Maritime said all 66 people were rescued on May 1 and brought them into the port.

In a statement they said the migrants were rescued by the Maritime Gendarmerie's coastal maritime surveillance boat Yser.

'The Yser rescued the boat, which was in difficulty, in the afternoon.

'The crew rescued 66 castaways, including women and children.

'The castaways were then taken to the port of Dieppe where they were taken care of by the land rescue services and the border police', the statement said.

The perilous crossings cost more lives last week, as five drowned when nearly 100 migrants piled into a small boat which sank off the French coast, including Sara Alhashimi, seven.

Sara (pictured) died while trying to cross the Channel to Britain last week

Sara (right) pictured with her father Ahmed

A French policeman slashes an inflatable dinghy filled with migrants trying to leave a beach

Her distraught father, Ahmed, 41, said he all he wanted was for ‘my kids to go to school’ and saw the UK as his last chance after 14 years of failed claims to stay on the continent, even though his daughter was born in Belgium.

Sara had spent most of her short life living with relatives in liberal Sweden, which has boasted of its open doors policy but gave her just two days’ notice that she would be deported.

‘I will never forgive myself, but the sea was the only choice I had,’ Mr Alhashimi told the BBC from the northern French coast earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a third man has been charged with an immigration offence in relation to the deaths.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Mohammed Jibril, 23, from Sudan, will appear at Reading Magistrates' Court on Thursday, charged with entering the UK illegally.

He was detained in Hayes, west London, and was interviewed by officers on Wednesday.

It comes after two other males from South Sudan and Sudan were charged over the incident, but disputes about their ages and whether they are youths have delayed court proceedings.

The pair claimed they are 15 and 16, but initial age assessments by immigration officers and a social worker placed them in their early 20s.

French authorities have been told to significantly ramp up their efforts to prevent migrants leaving the coast since the tragedy.

They were pictured deploying tear gas and slashing dinghy's with knives in a bid to try and stop the migrants from crossing.

Distraught migrants were seen collapsing onto the beach as they are prevented from making the dangerous journey, which some had paid up to £1000 each to attempt.