More than 2,000 small boat migrants have crossed illegally from France since the beginning of the year, GB News can exclusively reveal.

The grim milestone figure was reached last night, when the Border Force vessel Typhoon arrived at Dover harbour with at least 138 migrants on board.

They were picked up from two migrant boats that made it into UK waters on Tuesday evening.

Earlier in the day, another small boat was intercepted with 24 migrants on board.

That migrant boat had been involved in an earlier dramatic rescue after suffering engine failure in heavy swells several miles from the French port of Dunkirk.

French maritime authorities attended the scene and managed to persuade 38 people onboard the migrant boat to accept rescue assistance.

They were taken back to Dunkirk and assessed by medical services.

But 24 migrants refused to get off the boat, and after restarting their engine, continued towards UK waters.

The Government's new Border Security, Immigration and Asylum bill, currently making its way through Parliament, will create a specific offence for those refusing offers of rescue.

Those who turn down assistance from maritime authorities could be charged with 'endangering another person'.

Tuesday's arrivals take the told number of migrants who have made the illegal crossing by small boat since the new year to at least 2,055.

Bad weather for much of January and February has left few days in which conditions are calm enough for people smugglers to launch their boats from French beaches.

The last Channel crossings before yesterday were 10 days ago on 15 February, when 240migrants made it to UK waters in four small boats.

Maritime security sources have condemned "callous criminal gangs" for putting migrants in real danger by attempting to push boats out, even in poor weather.

Yesterday, French authorities were involved in multiple rescues of migrant boats in difficulties off the French coast.

One source told GB News: "It's clear the people smuggling gangs are pushing the envelope and taking even more risks than normal.

"They're obviously frustrated that the winter storms over the past couple of months have left them unable to launch.

"Now, even on the days when the seas are just that bit too rough, some of the smugglers are still risking it."

Last year was the deadliest on record for Channel migrants, with authorities confirming at least 77 deaths.

This year already, two migrants have died.

A Syrian man was crushed to death on an overcrowded migrant boat in January, and more than 60 others were rescued.

Ten days ago, another migrant died when their overcrowded boat got into difficulties off the French coast near Calais.

The new Labour government has vowed to "smash the gangs" involved in the people smuggling trade, and has invested more resources in their new Border Security Command.

The National Crime Agency has also received millions of pounds of additional funding, diverted from the previous Government's Rwanda deterrent scheme, which has been scrapped by Labour.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.

"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."