Normandy migrant dinghy heading for UK after 24 hours at sea

A migrant dinghy is heading towards the UK after spending more than 24 hours at sea.

The boat, which is being shadowed by a French coastguard vessel, left the Normandy coast on Monday morning.

The dinghy is now approaching the Channel boundary line according to ship tracking data, and appears to have set off close to the village of Vierville-sur-Mer, west of Bayeux.

Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, claimed on social media he was going into the Channel to find the boat.

Mr Thomas – the founder of anti-migration group Patriot Platform and an associate of political activist Tommy Robinson – was a leader of the Portsmouth protest and organised the Dover demonstration.

Danny Tommo (real name Daniel Thomas) says he is attempting to find the boat in the Channel (PA)

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He posted a YouTube livestream on Tuesday of himself on a high-speed boat at sea.

Departures as far west as Normandy are rare.

Earlier this month, a dinghy had to be met by lifeboats from the Isle of Wight having set off from the Cherbourg area, triggering angry protests in Portsmouth.

It is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat.

Officials said at the time they believed it was a one-off rather than a sign of new tactics.

Earlier on Tuesday, a minister insisted the UK’s borders are secure after a migrant boat reached the Kent coast without being intercepted.

Five people were detained and passed to Border Security Command after the dinghy made it to shore at Folkestone on Monday – the first undetected landing for a year.

Defence minister Luke Pollard dismissed suggestions the Government had lost control of the border.

Defence minister Luke Pollard said the Government had not lost control of the border (PA)

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“Our borders are secure, but we want to make them stronger,” he told LBC Radio.

Asked how the boat slipped through, Mr Pollard said a Home Office investigation was under way to determine what had happened, without going into detail.

The thousands of migrants crossing the Channel are usually brought to shore by Border Security Command or RNLI boats.

No small boat arrivals to the UK coast without an escort have been officially recorded since September 6 2025.

Some 17,480 migrants have arrived after crossing the Channel by boat so far this year, including 5,011 since Andy Burnham became prime minister.