The Channel crossings crisis is "out of control", the Home Secretary has admitted.

Suella Braverman has also revealed 80% of those arriving on Kent's shores are Albanian – and says some are claiming they are victims of modern slavery to avoid being deported.

It comes as the total number of Channel crossings this year reaches almost 33,000, with most of the small boats landing on the coast of Dover, Deal, Folkestone, Hythe and Dungeness.

The 2022 figure to date is almost double the number that had been detected by this point last year, which was just under 14,500.

Ms Braverman says she will “take dramatic action” by changing laws, such as the Modern Slavery Act, to stop people taking advantage of the legislation.

In an interview with The Sun, she said: “There’s a crisis on the Channel and it’s been going on for far too long.

"There have been huge attempts to try and stop the problem and I feel that we are at a stage now where we need to take dramatic action.

“So the problem has gone out of control for a variety of reasons.”

The Modern Slavery Act was brought in by Theresa May in 2015 to stop exploitation, but Ms Braverman believes is "being abused".

"What’s happened is that the aims and the structure of that legislation have been completely distorted," said the Home Secretary, who was appointed by Prime Minister Liz Truss last month.

"Now what we are seeing is a majority of people coming here from Albania – some 80% – of the people coming across on small boats are claiming to be victims of modern slavery."

She says this is despite fact that they may have paid people smugglers tens of thousands of pounds "for the privilege of being a so-called modern slave".

“That’s also regardless of the fact that they will have actively sought to come to the UK through an illegal, illicit and dangerous method," the Ms Braverman adds.

In April, former Home Secretary Priti Patel signed what she described as a “world-first” agreement with Rwanda. It would see the East African country receive people deemed by the UK to have arrived “illegally”, who are therefore inadmissible under new immigration rules.

However the first deportation flight that was due to take off on June 14 was grounded amid legal challenges.

Ms Braverman hinted in the interview that she will reform the Modern Slavery Act to increase the evidential threshold and stop people suddenly claiming to be modern slaves.

It is reported that she is expected to reveal details of the plans later this week.