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French police faced fresh fury over their “failure” to stop Channel migrant crossings after 173 people cheated death when the biggest ever mega dinghy caught fire.

The asylum seekers were rescued after 11 vessels – including Border Security Command vessels and RNLI lifeboats – raced to the scene when people panicked and jumped into the water to flee the flames.

Authorities in France described it as one of the biggest operations since the crisis began in 2018.

And the Daily Express became the first UK news organisation to witness the moment a British vessel – BSC Contender – brought migrants back to France after being detected in the Channel.

Some 63 of those on board were picked up by the UK Border Force command vessel Contender.

But the French police faced widespread outrage after allowing one of the dangerous mega dinghies to launch and continue its way along the coast.

The vessel is believed to have been in the water for 18 hours, after leaving Dieppe before picking up migrants from multiple beaches.

A maritime security source said: “Quite frankly, it’s miraculous that no one has died”.

Reform UK Chairman Lee Anderson, speaking to the Daily Express in Northern France, said: “It is another heartbreaking incident and it’s needless. We can stop this.

“The French – we see it every day – they are literally waving these people onto these boats. They are escorting them to the halfway line in the English Channel where the British authorities are picking them up.

“There’s hardly any deterrent in the English Channel and as a consequence, people are dying.

“Today, we saw a mega dinghy catch fire and they had to immediately rescued. Every death, every incident in that Channel is in the hands of the French police, the French authorities.”

Asked about BSC’s role in the rescue, Mr Anderson said: “Forgive the pun, but it blows out of the water the excuse the British politicians use that we can’t bring people back to France.

“Of course we can. We saw it when Yvette Cooper was Home Secretary, about 18 months ago. If there is a rescue mission in the Channel, we can bring them back. That has been proven today.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The French do nothing – risking deaths.

“The latest mega dinghy episode almost resulted in yet more fatalities at sea.

“This exposes again how France’s failure to stop the illegal immigrants embarking is immoral – putting lives at risk.

“They basically don’t really care about the issue. If they did, they could stop it easily.

“Shabana Mahmood is paying £660 million of our money for these Gendarmerie – yet one of them even admitted to me on camera that his orders were to do nothing.

“If the French won’t act to save lives then Andy Burnham must show he is serious by adopting the Conservative plan – leave the ECHR so we can deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. Then the crossings will soon stop and lives will be saved. But open borders Burnham won’t do this.”

Former Border Force Director General Tony Smith said: “There is no reason under the Law of the Sea why migrants on small boats could not be rescued at sea and returned to French ports either by a U.K. or French patrol boat, regardless of the point of rescue. France is a safe country.

“It’s more a question of political will that the French government will not permit this, rather than a question of humanitarian concern. If they did allow it, then the boats would stop in an instant – and multiple lives would be saved in the long run.”

There were so many people on board the latest mega dinghy that some of the migrants asked to get off within two hours.

“Five people had initially asked to be rescued, because the boat was in such a bad way,” said the prefecture spokesman.

“The rest told rescuers they wanted to continue, and this was permitted. Then, later in the morning, the engine caught fire.”

Those onboard then jumped into the water and the boat capsized.

It is thought that a fuel leak from the outboard motor caused the blaze, causing mass panic on board.

At least 14 UK-bound migrants have died in the Channel this year, either by drowning or suffocating in a small boat because of overcrowding.

The vast majority of those injured in the latest near-miss had minor burns, scratches and bruises.

And the Daily Express was in Boulogne-Sur-Mer as the migrants were brought back to shore.

BSC Contender docked alongside the French vessel – Argonaute – and dozens of migrants including women and children were escorted down a gangway to safety.

They were met by scores of medics who had arrived in ambulances throughout the afternoon.

There, they were wrapped in foil blankets and taken to nearby waiting buses before being whisked off.

The Daily Express witnessed the poignant moment as a mother cradled her baby as the coach was driven out of the secure zone in the port of Boulogne.

Others gazed out of the window, seemingly haunted by the traumatic Channel crossing.

Britain has a deal with France that allows migrants to be returned to France if there has been a disaster at sea. It was negotiated by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

But calls are intensifying for France to routinely stop and take back every migrant crossing the Channel.

Nigel Farage has vowed to deploy the Royal Navy and Royal Marines to intercept every dinghy and take them back.

The Royal Marines will be allowed to dump asylum seekers back on the shores if Paris refuses to accept them.

But the French Interior Ministry said the plan is a “violation of sovereignty”.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “This morning, the Border Security Command was alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress in French waters.

“This incident underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings. We continue to work relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys.”