French efforts to puncture a small boat carrying migrants failed to stop them arriving in Britain, leaked Coastguard documents have revealed.
The incident took place overnight on July 9-10, according to a log from the Gris-Nez maritime rescue coordination centre.
French forces' run-in with the migrants started at 11.21pm on July 9, when police punctured a boat trying to leave Cayeux-sur-Mer.
The officials then lost sight of the boat - and just one minute later, the coastguard was asked to search with sea and air resources.
The dinghy was identified by the coastguard in the early hours of the following day.
It was revealed that the boat had picked up more passengers along the coast and arrived in the UK, having been picked up by an RNLI lifeboat with 55 passengers - despite having been slashed.
Home Office figures reveal that 10 boats carrying 573 migrants went on to arrive that day - the same day Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced their "one in, one out" deal.
The deal, in principle, means that one person would be allowed to legally travel to the UK and claim asylum in exchange for one illegal migrant being sent back to France.
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|Efforts made by French forces, which included trying to puncture a small boat carrying migrants, failed to stop the passengers arriving in the UK
The fact that the small boat was able to reach the UK, despite having been slashed by authorities - has piled further pressure on the effectiveness of the deal.
Just hours after it was finally signed, Nigel Farage said: "I don't believe it'll work. I believe the numbers will be very limited indeed.
"Nobody who crosses the English Channel illegally in a boat should ever be given refugee status, should ever be given leave to remain and should be deported. And if we did that, it would stop within a fortnight."
Another part of Starmer and Macron's agreement would see France intercept migrant boats up to 300 metres out to sea.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said France is "in the process" of reviewing its tactics in its own waters.
Her department has said that though France had not yet announced the outcome of its review, there are hopes that maritime operational teams would soon be able to intercept and stop boats in the water.
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|It was revealed the boat arrived in the UK with 55 passengers, having been rescued by an RNLI lifeboat
And France's coastguard said the July 10 incident, revealed by The Guardian, proved that even if the authorities succeed in puncturing a boat, those onboard would not be deterred from attempting to travel to the UK if it remained afloat.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK through the use of dinghies this year has increased by around 50 per cent in comparison to the same period last year.
There have been more than 21,000 crossings so far in 2025 alone, despite repeated Government pledges to stop the boats.
In the last week alone, 1,114 migrants have arrived in the UK via small boat, according to the Home Office.
GB NEWS | The number of migrants arriving in the UK through the use of dinghies this year has increased by around 50 per cent in comparison to the same period last year
The Anglo-French migrant deal will also see the Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick Airport used to detain people who arrive in small boats before their return to France.
But it is not known how long the people will be detained, nor how the Home Office will select who will return.
Charlotte Khan, the head of advocacy and public affairs at refugee campaign group Care4Calais, has denounced the information revealed within the Coastguard's log.
She said: "Slashing boats in the water will put lives at risk, but as these disturbing logs show, it won't stop people making dangerous journeys to seek safety in the UK."