More than 300 crossed Channel in small boats to reach UK this weekend

Over 1,400 have been brought ashore in the past seven days, in what has been the busiest week for crossings since April

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

More than 300 people made it to Britain after crossing the Channel in small boats over the weekend, latest figures have revealed.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed seven boats were intercepted in the English Channel and brought to shore.

On Saturday, 321 people were rescued, but there were no intercepted crossings and nobody was brought to shore on Sunday.

Last week was the busiest week for Channel crossings in recent weeks, likely due to the warm weather and calm seas providing ideal weather conditions.

Some 1,512 people were brought to shore after being intercepted in the Channel last week.

The busiest week for Channel crossings so far this year was April 11 to 17, where 1,792 people were brought to shore – but the busiest seven-day period was 2,076 crossings in the seven days to April 19.

Crossings have continued despite the threat of asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda under new Home Office plans.

However, the first flight to Rwanda, planned for Tuesday, was cancelled at the last minute following an order from the European Court of Human Rights.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has previously described the court’s decision as politically motivated while Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said it was wrong for the injunction to be granted.

Ongoing court battles have created uncertainty over when any further attempts to fly asylum seekers to the African country will be made, although Ms Patel has previously said the Government “will not be deterred from doing the right thing, we will not be put off by the inevitable last-minute legal challenges”.