French authorities had to rescue a total 138 asylum seekers in one night, many of whom had ended up in the sea.

There were three incidents overnight on Wednesday to Thursday.

One boat with 43 people had left from the beach at Merlimont near Le Touquet but three of them fell into the water.

A semi-rigid rescue vessel came to their aid and the asylum seekers were brought safely back to shore.

In the early hours of yesterday, off Leffrinckoucke near Dunkirk, a boat with 50 people began to sink in the middle of the sandbanks and several people ended up in the water.

A customs patrol boat and all-weather vessel picked them up and took them to Dunkirk to be handed over to border police.

Also early that morning 45 people were cast adrift in a small vessel when their engine broke down off Camiers near Le Touquet.

Rescuers in a semi-rigid boat and launch took them ashore at Boulogne.

Operations to save the asylum seekers were co-ordinated by the regional operational surveillance and rescue centre near Boulogne.

France's Channel and the North Sea maritime authority (préfecture maritime de la Manche et de la mer du Nord), repeated its warning about the dangers of crossing the sea in small craft.

The area has more than 400 ships passing a day and winds at or above Force 7 (near-gale) on average 120 days a year.

A spokesman said: "It is therefore a particularly dangerous sector, especially at a time when the water temperature will decrease."

Asylum seekers continue to make it to the South East of England coast with 2,553 arriving in small boats in 53 vessels in four successive days from Tuesday, September 20 to Friday, September 23.

The total to have crossed the English Channel so far this year, up to September 23, is 32,310.

This compares with 299 in the whole of 2018, when the trend to use small craft to reach Britain began, and 1,843 in 2019.

Those rescued on the British side of the Channel are initially brought ashore at Dover and usually taken to a processing centre at Manston.

Others land in dinghies by themselves at places such as Kingsdown near Deal and Dungeness.