At least five people have died attempting to cross the Channel, according to reports.

The French coastguard confirmed there was a failed attempt to reach the UK and says police are operating at a beach after this morning’s tragic incident.

The spokesperson says they could not say how many people were involved but adds there were several "lifeless bodies".

A child, woman and three men are understood to have died.

French newspaper La Voix Du Nord reports at least five asylum seekers have died.

More than 110 people have been rescued by the French navy’s intervention tug and are being taken to Boulogne.

Emergency services picked up the father of a 4-year-old girl, who was "in tears on the beach", the paper says.

It comes after Rishi Sunak’s plans to deport asylum seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda passed through parliament last night.

The Prime Minister says “nothing will stand in our way” of getting flights off the ground as the government braced itself for legal challenges to the scheme.

The House of Lords was engaged in an extended tussle over the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill yesterday, sending it back to the Commons five times in a bid to secure changes.