A woman and a child were among 22 migrants who had to be rescued after attempting to cross the Channel, authorities have confirmed.

The group were spotted by a passing ferry roughly three to five kilometres off the coast of Dunkirk early yesterday morning.

The French authorities were alerted at half past midnight, and launched a search and rescue party.

The semi-rigid boat was found an hour later, and the group of migrants were shipped aboard the RIAS Bee Languedoc, which transported them back to Dunkirk.

This is the latest in a large number of migrants trying to cross the Channel over the past week, including eight incidents across 36 hours between Wednesday and Friday.

The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, is set to meet her French counterpart to discuss the issue after 37 migrants were brought to Dover after their boats were intercepted on Wednesday.

The Home Office said that no British authorities were involved in the incident off Dunkirk, but did say that there are currently two incidents ongoing off the Kent coast.

More on that as we get it.

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