The French coastguard said 45 people had to be rescued in the Channel after a boat got into difficulty.

A search and rescue operation was launched on Tuesday afternoon after the incident off the coast of Pas-de-Calais, according to a translation of a statement from the Prefecture maritime de la manche et de la mer du Nord.

The people on board were taken to Calais where they were met by emergency services and police, it said.

The incident comes after figures showed no migrants had crossed the Channel to the UK for a fortnight amid bad weather conditions.

The 14-day hiatus between January 3 and January 16 was the longest stretch without any arrivals for nine months.

So far, this year, the only crossing recorded by the Ministry of Defence was on January 2 when 44 people made the journey in one boat.