People smugglers are exploiting the soft border between Britain and Ireland to try to bring illegal migrants into the UK, Facebook adverts reveal.

Albanian gangs are charging £4,000 to get the migrants to this country through the “back door” route, a Telegraph investigation shows.

The gangs give migrants fake Italian ID cards that are used to fly them into Ireland, before they sneak into mainland Britain on ferries, allowing them to work illegally or claim asylum with their Albanian passports.

The immigration scam is one of a series of ruses being promoted on Facebook. Advertisements offer the chance for Albanian migrants to enter the UK via plane, lorry or yacht.

The routes are being advertised as an alternative to Channel crossings after a crackdown by authorities and the introduction of a fast-track deportation scheme that reduced the number of Albanians arriving in small boats from 12,658 in 2022 to fewer than 1,000 last year.