French riot police clash with migrants as record numbers make perilous crossing to UK

Clashes have broken out between French riot police and migrants in the early hours of the morning in a northern coastal town.

Pictures and footage captured by the PA news agency shows a group throwing rocks from afar in the direction of the officers early on Friday, while small fires are alight in the road near a park in Gravelines.

The scene between the men – two seen by PA wearing life jackets – and the Gendarmerie and Police Nationale officers, who were equipped with shields, helmets and tear gas, lasted for about 20 minutes at around 5.30am.

It came after migrants were filmed running into the water and boarding a dinghy at Gravelines beach on Thursday morning.

French authorities in an inflatable boat out at sea approached the overcrowded dinghy, passing those on board lifejackets.

No police were seen on the beach when the groups of people came out of the sand dunes and attempted to board the black inflatable boat.

PA first saw one boat drop off several men at around 5am, who went into the sand dunes, before a second boat came close to shore, circling until the migrants appeared on the beach.

The people, including a family with two children, put themselves into groups before trying to climb onto the boat.

Around 40 people, believed to be about half of the full group, left on the dinghy.

More than 22,500 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, a record for this point in the year.

Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a one in, one out migrant returns deal in a bid to crack down on the crossings and the people smuggling gangs who operate them.

Sir Keir met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday where he also praised Berlin’s plans to strengthen laws to disrupt small boat crossings by the end of the year.

Speaking alongside Mr Merz, the Prime Minister said that the proposals that will mean small boats can be seized are a “clear sign that we mean business”.

Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the UK a criminal offence in a move that will give law enforcement more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for Channel crossings.