The rise of the mega-dinghy | Nick Ferrari’s big story

Cheat the week with Nick Ferrari as he runs you through the biggest story from the last five days: The mega-dinghy.

The record-breaking vessel which reached Britain with 230 migrants was originally carrying more than 260 passengers including children when it almost sank.

As the boat – which was designed for a maximum of 40 people – was battered by choppy waters, at least 30 people were flung into the English Channel.

The new details of the perilous crossing emerged as ministers prepared for even more arrivals of large craft carrying hundreds of people across the Channel.

Multiple police and gendarmes watched as hundreds of people boarded the overloaded 'mega-dinghy' on Sunday.

French lifeboatmen described how scores of men, women and children originally boarded on a beach between Berck-sur-Mer and Merlimont, south of Le Touquet, on Sunday afternoon.

A spokesman for the SNSM voluntary sea rescue organisation – France’s equivalent of the RNLI – said all had been hiding in sand dunes, after paying people smugglers for a passage.

He said: "A veritable tide then rushed the approximately 15-meter (49ft) inflatable boat.

"Due to overloading, several people were thrown from the vessel – around thirty ended up in the water as the craft continued on its way."

A photo released by the SNSM at Berck shows dozens of mainly young men floundering in the Channel, following the initial boarding soon after 5pm.

The statement continues: "The mass movement during boarding posed a major risk, especially given that many of those present could not swim.

"With the rising tide, part of the group quickly became cut off. Gendarmes and firefighters intervened to bring these individuals to safety."

The statement adds: "Coordinating all the deployed resources helped avert a tragedy during this particularly dangerous phase."

The China-made PVC boat was buckling in the sea under the weight of those on board, as a swell picked up but the craft still managed to get out into open sea, with at least 20 children on board.

The overall number of arrivals on small boats has fallen sharply this year. The provisional total for the year stands at 14,819, 43 per cent lower than at the same point last year.

A spokesperson for Andy Burnham said: “We’ve seen today some appalling images … of young babies being put into these unseaworthy craft — and they’re shocking images — and they show the reality behind the ruthless smuggling gangs that are prepared to risk human lives for profit.

“That’s exactly why the government has signed a new payment-by-results deal with the French to prevent these perilous journeys from happening in the first place. As the prime minister has said, we’re not complacent and we are bearing down on these crossings, and that’s reflected in the joint action that’s prevented 47,000 attempted crossings since the election.”

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