French police have prevented 14 migrants from attempting to cross the Channel in a stolen fishing trawler.

Authorities stopped the group, including a mother and two children, after smugglers were seen breaking into a boat at the port of Boulogne.

The migrants said they had come from Iraq, according to a local prosecutor.

He said ”those seeking to help them on their way were busy breaking into the trawler” to let them aboard when harbour authorities called police.

Police are looking for two smuggling suspects involved in the attempted theft.

The incident on Tuesday came amid a surge in attempted Channel crossings, an increase that home secretary Sajid Javid has declared a “major incident”.

About 230 migrants tried to sail to England from northern France in December, according to the UK government.

Officials warned smugglers ”with a complete lack of regard for human life” were planning to send more migrants across the water on dinghies.

Sporadic crossings have been seen since the start of the Mediterranean refugee crisis in 2014, but numbers in the Channel started to increase in November.

Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Show all 15 1 /15 Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Syrian migrant Haidar Darwish tries on a head ornament in his flat in Berlin Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Haidar working at Bruno’s shop in Berlin Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Haidar performing during a show at Silverfuture club Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Haidar performing during a show at Silverfuture club Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Visitors at Silverfuture club cheer during the show Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Haidar performing during a show at Silverfuture club Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Haidar Darwish’s passport lies on a shelf in his flat Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Afghan migrant Ali Mohammad Rezaie poses on the motorbike of his German friends Chris and Jochen in Berlin Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Ali attending choir practice organised by the neighbourhood association Kiezspinne in Berlin Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Ali and his German friends Chris and Jochen eat together at his flat Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Joseph Saliba, a Syrian migrant of Christian background, walks to the Berlin Cathedral Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Joseph lacquers a church ambo at the Berlin Cathedral Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Joseph works in a workshop inside the Berlin Cathedral Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Joseph sorts his tools Reuters Clubs and churches helping Berlin to become home for migrants Joseph poses with a cross and his name tag Reuters

A group of 12 Iranian migrants, including one child, were the latest detained by UK police after landing on a beach at Lydd-on-Sea, Kent, on Monday.

Investigators believe that increased security in Calais, where migrants have previously boarded lorries through the Channel Tunnel, and other French ports may have contributed to the spike in dinghy crossings.

Two Border Force cutters are to be called back from abroad to join a third already patrolling the Channel.

But lawyers and campaigners have cautioned that the recent rise has been “blown out of proportion” as the numbers arriving constitute a “tiny proportion” of people coming to Britain to seek asylum.