Home Office spent thousands on pizzas for hungry Channel migrants

Border Force does not have facilities to cook warm food for migrants while they are processed at Dover
Border Force does not have facilities to cook warm food for migrants while they are processed at Dover
GARETH FULLER/PA

Border Force ordered so many Domino’s pizzas to feed Channel migrants last week that the Dover branch was forced to close to the public.

Officials bought 700 over two days at a cost of £7,000 — more than it spent on pizza for the whole of July at the height of summer migration.

They said they had to order emergency supplies from local takeaways after being “completely overwhelmed” by record numbers of crossings last week. Home Office modelling had predicted 2,000 arrivals this month but almost double that number had arrived in the first 11 days.

Border Force does not have facilities to cook warm food for migrants while they are processed at the Tug Haven reception centre at Dover, which the Home Office doubled