Coronavirus: Migrants cross Channel amid Covid-19 fears

Image source, PA Media

Image caption, A charity said it had learned of at least one case of coronavirus in a camp near Dunkirk

More than 40 migrants trying to reach the UK via the English Channel are thought to have been picked up by the Border Force.

Officials have been seen with groups of people at Dover.

It is not yet clear how many boats were intercepted, but the Home Office said the UK and France were working together to stop people-smuggling gangs.

The latest arrivals took place amid concerns coronavirus has reached refugee camps in France.

Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said the charity had learned of at least one case of coronavirus in a camp near Dunkirk.

She said she was "very scared" about the implications of the virus spreading in the camps, where access to soap and food is limited.

Image source, PA Media

Image caption, Border Force officers brought the migrants ashore in Dover

Pictures taken at the Port of Dover show a handful of suspected migrants being processed by Border Force staff.

Tony Eastaugh, Home Office director for crime and enforcement, said: "The people facilitating these small boats crossings are doing so illegally and we are determined to stop these reckless criminal acts.

"We are working around the clock with law enforcement agencies in the UK and France to tackle illegal migrant crossings.

"Our priorities are to arrest and dismantle the organised crime gangs who are prepared to gamble with the lives of others and returning those who have come here illegally, from a safe country."