PCC raises concerns about impact on policing and communities as small boat detected in the Channel

Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones is urging UK Border Force to collect migrants in a small boat currently reported to be in the English Channel, south of the UK central south coast.

Donna Jones said: “I am urging UK Border Force to collect the migrants in the Channel now, in the next hour, and transfer them to Dover via the water on a UK Cutter which is in the area. This is the assurance I was seeking 10 days ago from the Home Secretary.

“Hampshire is not prepared or set-up to process people travelling into Britain this way, and the burden on the police to deal with the arrival and potential protest activity is unsustainable.

“Following the events of September 6 when a migrant boat was brought ashore to Portsmouth, I wrote to the Home Secretary to request immediate action to stop Hampshire becoming an established landing site.

“I am deeply concerned the government has not been in contact with me about its plans to land crossings in Hampshire, whilst expecting me to pay for the policing response on behalf of the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

“This is no way to run an operation like this.

“The event on September 6 sparked multiple large scale protests, and caused a great deal of concern across local communities. It drained valuable police resources with hundreds of police officers drafted in to keep the community safe.

“Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary cannot repeatedly divert its resources to manage landings the county was never designed to receive.”