The Royal Navy has moved in to take control the cross-Channel asylum crisis at Dover less than 24-hours after Boris Johnson made his announcement in Kent.

It comes after the Prime Minister declared a multi-million pound scheme to send some asylum seekers who make the crossing in small boats to Rwanda.

This morning there were reports of 35 asylum seekers arriving in Dover at around 7.30am.

The Navy's Valiant ship was pictured in waters earlier today with men, women and children arriving in the county and being assisted by officers.

Figures from the Ministry of Defence revealed yesterday 562 asylum seekers were detected in 14 small boats, adding that it doesn't believe any arrived on their own.

Speaking at Lydd Airport yesterday, Boris Johnson admitted he expects his plans to detain and fly asylum seekers more than 4,000 miles on chartered planes to Africa to be challenged in the courts.

An initial £120 million is expected to be given to the Rwandan government under a trial scheme, with Home Secretary Priti Patel striking a deal during a visit to the capital of Kigali.

The number of people who can be relocated will be “unlimited”, with the first due to receive formal notifications within weeks, and the first flights expected to take place in the coming months.

Mr Johnson said the agreement is “uncapped” and Rwanda will have the “capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead”, including those who have arrived “illegally” since the start of the year.

He pledged £50 million in new funding for boats, aerial surveillance and military personnel to help ensure the measures are a “very considerable deterrent” to crossings.

And he said the individuals who succeed in making it to the UK “will be taken not to hotels at vast public expense” and instead will be housed in Greek-style detention centres, with the first opening “shortly”.

Mr Johnson said the partnership will be “fully compliant with our international legal obligations”, while insisting the country is “one of the safest countries in the world” and is “globally recognised for its record of welcoming and integrating migrants”.

The Prime Minister has been criticised by opposition MPs and refugee charities, such as Kent Refugee Action Network, for his new proposals, with some labelling them "draconian and lacking in compassion".

During his speech, where he deflected questioning about his fine for breaching coronavirus laws, he explained the Royal Navy would take over command from Border Force in the Channel to "ensure no boat makes it to the UK undetected".

Responding to the plans, spokesman for Kent Refugee Action Network Bridget Chapman, said: "This is yet more performative cruelty from a government which pledged to offer a warm welcome to those fleeing the war in Ukraine but who have offered a cold shoulder to many of those feeling conflicts and persecution elsewhere.

"The public should be very sceptical of these plans. They will be open to legal challenge and it's likely that very few people will ever actually be sent to Rwanda.

"This will also come at great cost, both financially and at a huge cost to the reputational damage of the UK record on human rights.

"Australia had a similar policy of offshoring those seeking asylum. It has been widely condemned by human rights organisations and has hoovered up vast amounts of public money. It costs the Australian public around $4million per person per year which is a little over £ 2million.

"The government point to legal routes but, as we have seen with Ukraine, any legal routes they open are almost impossible to access.The best way to deal with this situation is to offer genuinely accessible legal routes to those in need.

"We have to ask ourselves, why this hugely impractical and expensive scheme, and why now? The timing of this announcement seems to be designed to distract attention from the Prime Minister at a time when he is facing serious questions about his leadership."