Children too young to walk were among people seen arriving in Dover today after making the dangerous journey across the Channel.

Toddlers were carried ashore in the arms of officials after being brought into the port aboard a Border Force patrol boat.

Adults wrapped in blankets and lifejackets also arrived in Dover.

One man wearing a black hoodie and baseball cap beneath his lifejacket gave a thumbs up as he was brought into the Kent port.

The latest arrivals come days after a 27-year-old Eritrean man lost his life trying to reach the UK when his migrant boat started to sink off the French coast.

A number of boats are believed to have succeeded in crossing to the UK today, with about 50 people seen arriving in Dover.

The English Channel is the world’s busiest shipping lanes and the waters have claimed several lives.

The Home Office has repeatedly vowed to make the route “unviable” but numbers have risen sharply over the past two years.

Since the start of last year, nearly 20,000 people have risked death crossing to the UK aboard dinghies, kayaks and other small boats, with more than 10,000 this year alone.

On the day the Eritrean man died almost 600 people made the crossing, a new daily record.

The 27-year-old died after he and four others jumped overboard as their boat started to sink in the Dover Strait on Thursday.

His 22-year-old girlfriend watched as he entered the water before she was later rescued, a French asylum seeker help association told the PA news agency.

After being returned to port in Dunkirk, she later discovered that her boyfriend had tragically died after being taken to hospital.

A manslaughter investigation is now under way in France following the death.

Latest figures provided by the Home Office last night say at least 592 people were rescued or intercepted in their bids to cross to Britain on Thursday – a new record for a single day.

At least 155 people were intercepted by French authorities and returned to the continent on Thursday.

The new high mark eclipses the previous record of 482 set just over a week earlier on August 4.

Thursday’s loss of life did not stop more people from attempting the journey on Friday, with individuals seen being brought into the port of Dover in Kent after crossing the Channel.

The Home Office said 25 people reached the UK aboard one boat on Friday while others were returned to France.

Speaking to PA about the tragic events of Thursday morning, Nikolai Posner from French asylum seeker help association Utopia 56, said five men had jumped from the sinking boat during the dramatic incident.

Among them was a 27-year-old man from Eritrea, whose girlfriend was also on board the boat, according to Mr Posner.

A helicopter from the Belgian Air Force arrived at the scene, along with fishing boats and a cargo ship.

“The helicopter picked up 10 people, but they dropped them back on the boat, the (French Navy’s) Flamant.

“Just one (the 27-year-old) that they picked up went directly to the hospital,” Mr Posner told PA.

The man is believed to have suffered cardio-respiratory arrest, French authorities said, and died in hospital in Calais.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and her department have repeatedly vowed to make the Channel route “unviable”, but crossings have continued to rise.

Charities have criticised Ms Patel and called for the establishment of more safe and legal routes for people wanting to claim asylum in the UK.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover