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Many migrants are forced on to small boats and do not know where they are when they arrive on UK shores, a group of MPs has heard.

The Home Affairs Select Committee was told: "Ruthless criminals are taking advantage of the vulnerability of these migrants."

On Wednesday a record 416 migrants crossed the Channel from France to the UK on small boats.

The Home Office said 98% of migrants claimed asylum on arrival in the UK.

Dan O'Mahoney, the Home Office's clandestine Channel threat commander, told the committee some of the migrants "don't even want to come to the UK".

He said: "We hear a lot of stories about migrants who are literally forced on to boats, have no idea where they are when they get to the UK, because the facilitators don't get paid until they've done that last leg of the journey."

Mr O'Mahoney, said travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic and recent good weather "has had a significant impact in the increase in crossings [in small boats]".

More than 7,400 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since January 2019.

Abi Tierney, director general of UK visas and immigration at the Home Office, said the numbers of those seeking asylum had dropped from more than 10,000 in the first three months of the year to 5,789 in the second three months,

"France, Germany, Italy and Greece accept a much larger proportion of asylum seekers - they stay there, and a small number come to us."

She said of the 5,000 migrants arriving so far this year, 98% had claimed asylum.

About half of those applications have been considered so far, she said, with 71% rejected because the UK was not the responsible country - the migrants had travelled through a safe country before arriving in the UK.

Mr O'Mahoney, told MPs the French authorities were "as committed as we are" and had prevented 3,000 people from making the crossing so far this year, including almost 200 on Wednesday alone.

"There is a lot of joint working and it is delivering results," he said.

"It's nowhere need the level we'd like it to be and that is frustrating."

He said: "The Border Force have been doing a fantastic job. Their professionalism and skill is notable and the humanity with which they treat migrants is genuinely impressive."

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