More than 500 migrants cross the Channel today in biggest single day of arrivals so far this year

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, multiple small boats were detected heading towards the UK.

A total of five Border Force vessels were scrambled across the day to intercept the boats as they reached British waters.

At Dover harbour, GB News Kent producer counted as each of the Border Force vessels unloaded those they had picked up.

By 7am, 120 migrants had been taken to the Border Force processing center in Dover.

An hour and a half later, that number had risen to more than 250.

And by 3:30pm on Sunday, GB News counted a total of 505 migrants as they arrived at Dover harbour.

That figure is by far the highest single day of arrivals so far this year.

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It is almost double the previous record day of arrivals on January 13, when 260 migrants made the illegal crossing into UK waters.

Today's record number of crossings comes just days after French authorities announced plans to change the law, allowing police to pursue migrants and people smugglers into the water, to prevent small boat launches.

Currently, police will not pursue those launching migrant boats once the inflatables hit the water.

The new procedures will allow authorities to enter the sea up to 300 meters from the shore, in attempts to disrupt launches.

The change in policy was announced after a meeting between the British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and her French counterpart Bruno Retailleau in the French coastal town of Le Touquet on Thursday.

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. We will stop at nothing todismantle their business models and bring them to justice."

Last year, a total of 36,816 migrants crossed from France in small boats.

The figure was 25 per cent higher than the year before.

This year already, 2,629 migrants have made the journey to the UK, compared to 2,255 at the same point last year.