'Stopping the small boats is impossible no matter how much money we throw at it'

After a week in which four people died attempting to cross the English Channel, May Bulman watches the ineffective attempts being made to stop them leaving French shores

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It was around 7.45am when the first small boat appeared. The sun was rising above Gravelines, a coastal town that lies at the mouth of the River Aa between Calais and Dunkirk. It was the first calm day in more than a week.

Three military reservists, in khaki uniforms and black vests bearing the word “Gendarme” - officers salaried by the UK - had been standing on the riverbank a couple of hundred metres from where the waterway opens onto the English Channel. They were alerted to the vessel by a passing jogger.

It was just a speck on the river in the distance at first, but it soon came close enough to reveal it was an inflatable raft with around a dozen young men on board.

One of the three military reservists watched the inflatable through his binoculars as it sailed past them. Another started typing something on his phone. The officers then began marching along the riverbank behind the boat - but this did nothing to deter those on board.

At this point, people started to appear on the huge expanse of Gravelines beach ahead, walking, some running, towards the coastline. Mostly men at first, then women and small children.

In a town at the top of the beach, a handful of police officers - probably also salaried with UK money - were trying to stand in the way of one group. But faced with more than a dozen people making a beeline for the sea, it was an impossible task. Soon enough, those on the beach were wading into the water towards the vessel to join the existing passengers. It quickly became overcrowded.