Around 40 people arrived in Dungeness this morning, as the total number crossing the English Channel by small boat this year approaches 25,000.

The RNLI lifeboat brought ashore the group, which included woman and children, before they were taken to a Home Office procession centre by coach.

With no arrivals made yesterday, this morning's group are expected to be the first of several boats taking advantage of calm crossing conditions.

It's thought this bank holiday weekend will see the total number of people crossing the Channel this year reach 25,000, with 24,231 having made the crossing as of Thursday.

Recent figures show the cost of the UK's asylum system has risen from £1.4 billion in 2020/21 to £2.1 billion in 2021/22, more than double the amount spent in 2019/20.

The same time period has seen the highest number of asylum claims for two decades and record delays for decisions.

The 63,089 applications in the year to June 2022 is also the highest number for since 2002/03 when 71,316 applications were made.

Officials are said to be working to reduce the backlog of claims but are struggling to keep up with new applications.