THREE extra rescue boats have been hired to tackle a surge in migrants trying to cross the Channel.
The 25ft vessels, which will support others on patrol, are costing the Home Office more than £250,000 to hire.
They can carry 20 people as well as crew and have at least six life jackets for migrants that are in the water, contract details reveal.
They were due to be available last month and be in service until the beginning of December.
The hires emerged as nearly 1,000 — the highest daily figure for two years — made the crossing on Saturday.
On the same day four people died while attempting to cross the Channel – including a two-year-old boy who was “trampled to death“.
So far this year, there have been 26,612 arrivals, including 13,038 since Labour came to power, as well as 52 deaths in the Channel.
The hired boats — rigid-hulled inflatables — are going on patrol between Eastbourne, Dieppe, Ostend and Margate.
The contract states: “While migrant rescue vessels will continue to have the main role in the rescuing of migrants, the RHIBs will play a supporting role.”
The Home Office said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.”
A backlog of asylum cases means almost 225,000 migrants are waiting on initial decisions, appeals, or pending removal from the UK.
Ballooning migration has fuelled the fastest rise in Britain’s population for more than five decades.
Total UK residents hit 68,265,200 in June last year after an extra 662,400 people were absorbed in the previous 12 months.
