Priti Patel has signed a deal to prevent Channel migrant crossings, as France agreed to double police beach patrols but continued to resist taking back arrivals.

“Thanks to more police patrols on French beaches and enhanced intelligence sharing between our security and law enforcement agencies, we are already seeing fewer migrants leaving French beaches,” the Home Secretary said.

The four-point plan which includes a major expansion of surveillance by drones and CCTV along the 100 miles of France’s northern coastline aims to catch migrants before they leave French soil.

It follows a seven-fold increase in the number of migrants crossing the Channel this year with a record 8,500 reaching UK shores since January.

The bilateral agreement signed by Home Secretary Priti Patel and her counterpart Gérald Darmanin came as the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier arrived in London to restart Brexit talks which have been deadlocked by Anglo-French disputes over fishing rights.

Although sources insisted there was no linkage between migrants and fishing rights, they pointed to the deal as evidence of the two countries’ willingness to work together post-Brexit.

"We accept this is a shared problem and recognise we can only solve it by working together," said a Government source.

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