Border boat ‘sits idle’ at Dover as migrants cross the Channel

Asylum seekers arriving into Dover Docks. (Image: Getty)

A Border Force vas has been sitting idle astatine Dover for cleaning, contempt immense numbers of migrants risking their lives to transverse the Channel.

When successful opposition, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper demanded that the Government usage “all specializer resources” to get a grip connected the crossings.

This included HMC Hunter, a cutter antecedently utilized to transport migrants backmost to Kent’s shores.

But it has been “sitting idle” successful the harbour, being scrubbed by officers, portion colleagues woody with the influx of dinghies – done which 12 radical from 1 vessel precocious perished.

A Home Office spokesperson confirmed the vessel is not being utilized to woody with crossings but it is operational and being utilized to deter taxation fraud successful British waters.

Sources said the vas costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to run, earlier staffing costs. When successful use, cutters tin question astatine 26 knots and transportation 16 people.

One fisherman based successful Dover called its deficiency of usage “shocking”, noting: “It is not doing anything.

“I cannot judge it’s not being utilized to assistance with the migrant ­crisis. It could enactment arsenic a deterrent.”

Alp Mehmet, of Migrant Watch UK, said: “It shows Labour’s deficiency of imaginativeness erstwhile it comes to tackling this crisis.

“It makes nary consciousness to person a moving vas ­sitting successful Dover watching migrants coming successful immense numbers each time but not doing anything. It shows Border Force is conscionable a taxi work and isn’t funny successful acting arsenic a deterrent. Money has been thrown astatine this contented for 5 years and ­taxpayers are suffering.”

When the past authorities said cutters were being withdrawn from migrant duties, Ms Cooper deed back: “The Tory authorities is wholly failing to get a grip of our borderline security.

“They should beryllium utilizing each the specializer resources we’ve got to halt unsafe crossings.”

They were replaced with a fleet of backstage vessels, costing taxpayers £36million a year.

Earlier this year, the Home Office enactment retired a tender for £6million for a “life extension” strategy for the cutters but it is unclear if HMC Hunter is included.