September set to be new record month for migrant landings with 3,413 having already made dangerous Channel dash, Home Office data reveals

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September is set to be the new record month for migrant crossings, with 3,413 making the journey so far, Home Office data has revealed. 

The record is currently 3,509, set in July, but observers in Dover believe that number might have been surpassed today.   

Around 80 have arrived so far today in Dover Marina, Kent with a Border Force catamaran Hurricane docking around 9.30am with about 50 people on board.

The first family to disembark consisted of a woman carrying possessions in a clear plastic bag, a man wearing a woolly hat and three young boys wrapped up in winter coats.

They were followed up the gangway for processing by a little girl aged around seven with two women and a man all wearing orange lifejackets.

Around 80 have arrived so far today in Dover Marina, Kent with a Border Force catamaran Hurricane docking this morning at around 9.30am with 50 people on board

A little girl aged around seven with two women and a man all wearing orange lifejackets was brought ashore this morning

Arrivals today could also take the record-breaking total for the year to more than 16,000. The tally currently stands at 15,840

Onlookers monitoring activity in the Channel off the Kent coast predict it will be a busy day of crossings with people smugglers taking advantage of warm weather and calm seas

A further five women were also on board alongside the remaining Middle Eastern men.

The RNLI Dover Lifeboat docked around 11am with around 30 migrants on board - including a man with his long hair tied in a bun wearing a bright blue jacket, sunglasses and a shoulder bag.

A little boy wearing a stripy beanie hat was followed by his mum, who was one of around a dozen women in the group.

Onlookers monitoring activity in the Channel off the Kent coast predict it will be a busy day of crossings with people smugglers taking advantage of warm weather and calm seas.

It comes after UK authorities had to rescue or intercept 134 migrants in 5 boats on Tuesday.

The French intercepted at least 60 people from 3 events, according to the Home Office.

Arrivals today could also take the record-breaking total for the year to more than 16,000.

The tally currently stands at 15,840.

Dan O'Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, said on Wednesday night: 'The Government is determined to tackle the unacceptable rise in dangerous Channel crossings using every tool at our disposal, at every stage in the journey.

'Working with police and international partners there have been nearly 300 arrests, 65 convictions related to small boat criminality and our targeted efforts have prevented more than 12,000 migrant attempts.

'But this is a complicated issue requiring changes to our laws. The government's New Plan for Immigration provides the only long term solution to fix the broken system and deliver the change required to tackle criminal gangs and prevent further loss of life.' 

It comes after UK authorities had to rescue or intercept 134 migrants in 5 boats on Tuesday. The French intercepted at least 60 people from 3 events, according to the Home Office

Arrivals today could also take the record-breaking total for the year to more than 16,000. The tally currently stands at 15,840

The RNLI Dover Lifeboat docked around 11am with around 30 migrants on board - including a man with his long hair tied in a bun wearing a bright blue jacket, sunglasses and a shoulder bag

It comes as the Home Office's top mandarin today admitted that Priti Patel's 'pushback' tactics for Channel migrants will only be used on a 'small proportion' of boats.

During tetchy clashes with MPs, Matthew Rycroft dodged saying when the policy would be put in place, or even categorically that it will be.

However, he insisted there was a 'legal base' for the manoeuvre to be carried out in 'certain limited circumstances'.

France previously responded with fury after Priti Patel ordered the tactic to be developed amid mounting alarm at the numbers attempting the Channel crossing.

Experts also questioned how it could be used without either sinking the unstable boats and risking passengers dying, or breaking maritime law.  

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, Mr Rycroft said Border Force officers had been 'preparing and trialling' the 'new maritime tactic'.

However, he confirmed it had 'not been deployed yet' and this would only happen when 'all of the circumstances are in place to allow them to be deployed in a safe and legal way'.

Asked roughly what proportion of the crossings in the past six months would have met the circumstances to legally push back boats, he said a 'small proportion', later conceding it would be nearer 1 per cent than 49 per cent but adding: 'I'm not going to give a number… I'm not going to go further down that …'

During tetchy clashes with MPs, Matthew Rycroft (left) dodged saying when the policy put forward by Priti Patel (right) would be put in place, or even categorically that it will be

Pressing Mr Rycroft repeatedly on the subject, Tory MP Tim Loughton said the committee needed to establish whether the tactic would make a 'meaningful difference' and was 'actually going to happen'.

Mr Rycroft said he could not give a 'yes or no' answer when asked if the tactic would be deployed 'next week, month, year or ever', adding: 'When we see them will depend on lots of different factors.'

He explained it was 'hard to give a definitive answer' as it involves Border Force commanders making 'judgments in the moment' based on a number of factors, including the type of boat being used and the weather.

Mr Loughton suggested the boats may have made it to shore by the time this process is carried out, adding: 'Realistically, this isn't going to work'.

'I totally disagree with that assessment,' Mr Rycroft replied, adding that he did not want to provide detail on operations publicly so as not to give people smugglers arranging the boat crossings an advantage on tactics.

The Home Office's most senior official also hit back at suggestions that plans under the Nationality and Borders Bill to send migrants who arrive in the country illegally to jail for four years would go against the Refugee Convention and could risk criminalising Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover.