Ferry company condemns Border Force after it lost half a day's worth of takings when ordered to stop services so 140 migrants could be brought ashore in Portsmouth

A ferry company has criticised Border Force for ordering it to halt its services so 140 illegal migrants could be brought ashore in Portsmouth amid huge protests.Bosses operating the Hayling Ferry say they have been left out of pocket after officials told them to pause crossings as migrants disembarked on Sunday evening.Colin Hill, who runs the ferry from Hayling Island to the Eastney area of Portsmouth, said they lost half a day's worth of money after being ordered to remain in Hayling on Sunday afternoon.There are nine voyages from Hayling on Sunday afternoons and ten in the other direction, with single tickets costing four pounds. Two RNLI lifeboats took the migrants into Eastney ferry port, where they were met by around 500 balaclava-clad protesters. In the ugly confrontation that followed, several police officers were injured and vehicles damaged.The Hayling ferry was left in limbo for hours after suddenly being told to stay away from the Eastney pontoon as the migrants were brought ashore.Mr Hill said of the impact it had on the ferry service: 'Border Force said you are not allowed to use Eastney pontoon - I don't know what power they've got to do that. Bosses operating the Hayling Ferry say they have been left out of pocket after officials told them to pause crossings as migrants disembarked on Sunday evening Hundreds of protestors clashed with police near Eastney beach in Portsmouth on Sunday 'It stopped the ferry. We had people stuck over at Hayling so in the end we had to go around to Southsea Marina.'Eastney is a totally unsuitable harbour to bring migrants into. There's only one way in and one way out with the road. There was no plan B to get the migrants away.'It definitely disrupted our business because we had to stop running the ferry. That's why a commercial pontoon like this is not suitable.'The RNLI lifeboats were told by Southampton Port and Portsmouth Harbour that they could not land the migrants there, forcing them to divert to Eastney. France's Prefecture of Manche spent £90,000 on deploying five boats and two helicopters to shadow the mega-dinghy from Utah beach in Normandy towards England's south coast. Four of the five boats shadowing the mega-dinghy belonged to the SNSM, France's equivalent of the RNLI. However, the French voluntary organisation refused to let the migrants board their own lifeboats after deeming it to be too risky – leaving the RNLI to do so instead. Mr Hill questioned why the French had not picked up the illegal migrants instead. 'The French could have stopped it in their waters. I think facilitating an illegal entry into the UK is a criminal offence. The migrants were brought ashore by RNLI vessels at Eastney Landing on Sunday 'If there's no May Day call, then what are the lifeboats doing out there in the first place?'It needs looking at. It's obviously not the lifeboats' faults, they're just volunteers. It's higher up the chain.'Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp warned that France's failure to intervene in the early stages of migrant crossings was 'putting lives at risk'. 'Around 100 people have died trying to cross the Channel already. The French could easily end this – they could stop the boats as they embark in knee-deep water, or stop them at sea near the French coast.'The Belgians do this, and the Australians have done it in the past, with no loss of life at all. Allowing this to continue simply puts more lives at risk and allows the illegal crossings to continue. 'Shabana Mahmood should not be paying £660m of our money while the French refuse to do what other countries will do.'The RNLI has come under fire for its role rescuing migrants, with a hate campaign launched online and the charity revealing some of its volunteers have been physically assaulted. Two police vehicles were positioned on Tuesday outside the RNLI's Eastney base as a preventative measure over potential 'public order incidents'. Peter Sparkes, chief executive of the charity, said: 'Our mission, and our task is to rescue those women, children and men in danger of drowning. 'Anyone rescued from a small boat by the RNLI is immediately handed over to the UK's immigration authorities. Illegal immigration is a political issue; the RNLI exists to save lives at sea.'A Home Office spokesman said: 'This government is doing the hard and necessary work of bearing down on small boat crossings, with the lowest number of June to August arrivals since 2020.'