How mega-dinghy that holds more migrants than an EasyJet flight will cost Brits £25MILLION in tax from single crossing

A RECORD 230 illegal immigrants cram on to a single dinghy heading for Britain — landing taxpayers with an estimated £25million bill. The 49ft craft carried more passengers on Sunday afternoon than an average EasyJet flight, with the migrants’ arrival slammed as “beyond a joke”. A mega dinghy arrived in the UK carrying 230 migrants Credit: Station SNSM Berck sur Mer/FACEBOOK The boat had enough people on it to fill an EasyJet Airbus Credit: Getty It smashes the record for the most migrants on one boat — beating the 165 total set just last month. Reform UK boss Nigel Farage said: “It’s yet more proof that this illegal invasion is a national security emergency.” Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The crammed craft collected its passengers along the French coast, with some needing to be rescued when it started “buckling” off the resort of Berck-sur-Mer. But it arrived here in the early hours of Monday with mainly young men straddling the sides, many not even wearing life jackets. It had more passengers than the average EasyJet flight from France. Each is estimated to cost taxpayers around £106,000 in immediate pressures, so the one boat could mean close to a £25million burden. They were among 423 migrants arriving on Sunday in five dinghies as French cops again failed to thwart launches from their shores. Rescue crews monitoring the packed vessel Credit: Station SNSM Berck sur Mer/FACEBOOK A deflated dinghy seen on the quayside at Dover after the record-breaking crossing Credit: PA Home Office sources insist that smuggling gangs are packing more people into each boat as interceptions are improving. Most read in The Sun Prime Minister Andy Burnham claimed Labour’s crackdown plan “is working”, and said this year’s total of 15,242 is 42 per cent down on 2025. But Mr Farage hit back: “Yes, the overall numbers are down this year but they’re still horrendous. “If I had told the British people a few years ago that tens of thousands of young men, some of whom are going to be terrorists, would come into Britain, you wouldn’t have believed me. “So whether we have fewer bad people this year than last year, the situation is desperate. “It should be declared a national security emergency. And yes, we have managed to stop some of the dinghies, but it doesn’t stop the problem. It is still something that is completely out of control.” More than £1billion has now been handed to France to help stopping Channel crossings. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also signed a “performance-related” extension where cash is withheld for poor results — and critics are demanding a refund. Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is now beyond a joke. The French authorities could easily have stopped a vessel this size from embarking in shallow waters.” The mega-dinghy was carrying about 50 people when monitored by rescue vessel Abeille Normandie just after 5pm on Sunday. Lifeboat crews at the SNSM, the French equivalent of the RNLI, were then called to an area between Berck and Merlimont, where a large group was waiting. When rescuers arrived, they saw people near the water, before around 150 people, including women and children, suddenly emerged from the dunes. Prime Minister Andy Burnham claimed Labour’s crackdown plan ‘is working’ Credit: Getty UK Border Force boat brings migrants into Dover earlier this month Credit: Gary Stone Witnesses said they rushed to the inflatable like a “human tide”, and began climbing aboard. The SNSM says the boat became so overloaded that about 30 people ended up in the water, even as the boat continued on its journey. The rising tide also left part of the group isolated on the French coast, prompting gendarmes and firefighters to intervene. Rescuers said the boarding operation was a “major risk”, with many occupants unable to swim. Meanwhile, the Abeille Normandie deployed its smaller boats as crews attempted to prevent a mass- casualty incident. French rescuers remained in contact with it until around 7.45pm, at one point reporting the vessel was “taking on waves”. By the time the overloaded boat headed out to the Channel, 230 people had been counted aboard, including more than 20 children. The SNSM described that figure as a “new and sad record”. But it claimed the coordination between the different emergency services had helped “avoid a tragedy”. The dinghy then continued across the Channel overnight, before being brought into Dover at around 2.30am on Monday. A Government source said: “While this boat is larger, the number of crossings is down significantly, and we just had the lowest figures for a July since 2020.” A Home Office spokesman added: “This latest incident demonstrates the reckless and dangerous tactics employed by the criminal gangs facilitating these crossings, who continue to put lives at risk by cramming ever greater numbers of people on to unseaworthy vessels.”