Social media bosses have agreed to tougher rules on stop people smugglers using their sites to sell seats on boats crossing the Channel.

Pictures have emerged of adverts offering places on small inflatable boats that will leave France and head to the UK – with one post offering trips for £5,000.

The gangs use the glossy social media videos to offer discounts, free children’s crossings, and fake documents in a bid to sell seats on the unsafe boats.

But now, social media firms – including TikTok, Twitter and Facebook – have agreed to team up with the National Crime Agency to crack down on smugglers’ posts encouraging asylum seekers to make the perilous journey.

PM Rishi Sunak said the new partnership will tackle attempts to “lure” migrants into paying to make the Channel crossing – a journey which has claimed dozens of lives.

The voluntary partnership will seek to redirect people away from such content in the same way as is used to tackle content promoting extremism or eating disorders.

Thousands of people have made the journey in recent years – with 15,000 people having crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2023 alone.

Just in the last week, 262 people made the journey.

Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke has been leading the campaign in Parliament to 'Tackle the TikTok Traffickers' and strengthen the Online Safety Bill to make these adverts illegal and place legal obligations on social media companies to remove this illegal content.

Mrs Elphicke says people smugglers have been changing words into emojis to sell small boat crossings, which were not fully picked up by TikTok.

The MP says this latest change will require TikTok to improve its efforts further ahead of the Online Safety Bill becoming law.

Natalie Elphicke said: “I’ve been leading the campaign in Parliament to ‘Tackle the TikTok Traffickers’ so it is a welcome step to take action to disrupt social media communications used by the criminal gangs in the Channel crossings.

“However, we have seen the great computers of TikTok defeated by people smugglers changing words into emojis to sell small boat crossings.

“TikTok need to do a lot better than this or face tough legal consequences when the Online Safety Bill becomes law.

“We must stop the people traffickers, bring an end to the small boat crossings and save lives.”

Meanwhile Labour has accused the Government of “disastrous failure” over its pledge to stop the boats after official figures confirmed the number of migrants staying in hotels has passed 50,000.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the data showed a “shocking” 25% increase from 40,000 in December, when Rishi Sunak promised to end the placement of asylum seekers in hotel accommodation.