More asylum seekers have crossed the Channel so far this year than in the whole of 2021.

Government figures show 601 people were detected yesterday in 19 boats, taking the provisional total for the year to 28,561 - with more than three months still to go.

Last year’s total was 28,526, according to official figures.

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

There have been 3,518 crossings recorded in September so far, analysis shows.

The highest daily total on record was on August 22, with 1,295 people crossing in 27 boats.

Five months ago Priti Patel, when she was Home Secretary, announced plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to try to deter people from crossing the Channel.

Since then 23,293 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey.

On April 14 Ms Patel signed what she described as a “world-first” agreement with Rwanda, under which the East African country will receive people deemed by the UK to have arrived “illegally”, and are therefore inadmissible under new immigration rules

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

Several asylum seekers, the Public and Commercial Services Union and charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid are embroiled in a court case with the Home Office as they challenge the legality of the policy.

The number of people reaching the UK in small boats from France has increased steadily in recent years.

Some 299 were detected in 2018, followed by 1,843 in 2019 and 8,466 in 2020, official figures show.

Often they are rescued at sea and taken to Dover for initial processing.

Other have landed by themselves in places such as Dungeness and Kingsdown near Deal.

But numbers coming to England in small boats are a fraction of the number of people going to mainland Europe.

Data from the UN’s refugee agency shows at least 120,441 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea last year.

The Ministy of Defence said its data is taken from “live operational systems” and is subject to change, “including reduction”.