Stranded dinghy packed with up to 100 migrants towed to safety by jetski after breaking down as cops ‘turned into AA’

A STRANDED dinghy packed with up to 100 migrants was towed to safety by a jet ski after breaking down just off the French coast, The Sun can reveal today. The boat had been picking up passengers who were waiting in the sea as if at bus-stops when its engine is understood to have fallen off. A dinghy packed with up to 100 migrants was towed to safety by a jet ski after breaking down just off the French coast (a jet ski like the one used by officials) Credit: Getty The crowded dinghy gets assistance from French police on the water scooter after its engine reportedly fell off Credit: Supplied Only then did police, who had been standing watching as migrants clambered on board, call up the jet ski to tug the boat. It happened at Le Touquet, around 40 miles southwest of Calais. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! One witness said: “The police had watched the migrants board and only intervened when it broke down. Do they think they’re the RAC or something?” It is expected that, had the engine not fallen off, the authorities would have escorted the dinghy across the English Channel until it reached British waters. It has heaped further pressure on the French police to do more to stop the crossings and to act firmly when they are actually likely to succeed. The boat is said to have been dangerously overcrowded at the time and other migrants were still walking towards it in chest-high water to try to reach it. It was first spotted by a British holidaymaker at around 9.25am with migrants on board. He said they had been waiting on the beach in broad daylight as officials from the coastguard and police watched on. Most read in The Sun The boat had been picking up passengers who were waiting in the sea as if at bus-stops when its engine is understood to have fallen off Credit: Supplied A jet ski deployed to tug the boat along the waters in Le Touquet, around 40 miles southwest of Calais Credit: AFP It then travelled further up the coastline to pick migrants up from another section of the beach, where the engine fell off. The migrants stayed on board as a jet ski approached and attached a tow rope to it. It appeared to tow the boat into deeper water for at least ten minutes. Pictures later showed an empty boat — known as a flubber — floating next to a French safety vessel without any migrants in. Dinghies are usually escorted into the middle of the Channel by a French vessel to keep an eye on the migrants and ensure no one falls into the water. When it looks as if the boat will reach English waters, they radio Border Force which sends out a cutter to pick them up. It is likely that the migrant dinghy would have made it to Britain had the engine not failed. It means that the only reason the crossing was unsuccessful was the smugglers’ failed mechanics and not decisive French policing. The witness said: “The boat was picking more people up. It was picking more people up from the shore. Then all of a sudden it had a lot of people attached to it and the jet ski started towing it out. “On the beach there was a 4×4 police jeep with five to six police officers. There was another police boat with enough people to intervene earlier. It’s just sad. “The people who didn’t get on the boat were just walking back casually. It’s bizarre. There was no rushing. No panicking. It was like, ‘I’ve got my ticket, I’ll get my boat. I can’t get on this one so I’ll just wait for the next one’. “It’s like the Tube. It’s crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it. “It’s turning the French police into the AA. The thing that shocked me was that they had so many opportunities to take people off that boat, but they didn’t. “They only waited until their engine failed. The jet ski next to them had chances to get people off. Why aren’t they doing it? It’s crazy letting them even get on.” One source who works with the Maritime Gendarmerie around Le Touquet confirmed jet skis were regularly used to police the vessels. Migrants who did cross are met by officials at Dover Credit: Stuart Brock A dinghy packed full of migrants leaves Hardelot Beach, Hardelot, France Credit: Dan Charity He said they operate in shallow waters to disrupt small boats “to try to stop people getting on board”. He said: “The jet skis are used to block the paths of the boats, and of course to monitor those on board”. It has been known for officers on jet skis to use nets to jam propellers, but there were no reports of this approach yesterday. The incident came as other migrants successfully crossed on other vessels. Images showed them being met by officials at Dover. Britain is committed to handing France up to £662million over three years under a deal struck earlier this year to stop boats setting off for UK shores. Around £501million of the package is earmarked for beefing up existing border controls in northern France, including extra enforcement and surveillance. But only £161million is dependent on results, with the cash set aside for new tactics and tied to their success in preventing crossings. The £662million sum comes on top of £476million Britain agreed to give France between 2023 and this year, taking commitments under the two deals to a total of more than £1.1billion. Ministers are also operating the “one in, one out” deal, which allows some small-boat migrants to be returned to France in exchange for Britain accepting eligible asylum seekers from France. But just 1,087 were sent back between August 2025 and June 30 this year — compared with 27,920 who crossed the Channel to Britain over the same period. More than 80,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since Labour took power in July 2024. And more than 3,000 have come since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister last month. He has vowed to “change our tactics” to smash the gangs — but has not put a timeline on stopping the crossings. Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said: “Labour came into office promising to smash the gangs, yet Keir Starmer presided over more Channel crossings than any Prime Minister in history. “Now, even with Labour changing Prime Ministers, the boats still come, with thousands already having arrived under Andy Burnham and being put up in hotels at the expense of the British taxpayer. “Only Reform UK will detain and deport all illegal migrants and secure Britain’s borders.” A Home Office spokesman said: “This boat was taken back to the French beaches. It did not make it to the UK. Some 47,000 attempted crossings have been stopped under this Government.”