Almost 30,000 asylum seekers crossed the Channel to the UK on board small boats over the last 12 months, figures reveal.

Analysis carried out by the Press Association shows at least 28,395 people made the perilous journey into British shores in 2021 - 20,000 more than in 2020.

A Home Office minister says the government is “reforming” its approach to asylum through its New Plan for Immigration.

But Number 10 has been warned that more people will drown off the coast if it pursues the "dangerous and callous policy".

Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor Hilton said: "People will continue to cross the Channel in flimsy boats, and smugglers will continue to profit, unless ministers open up more routes for refugees to claim asylum here.

“[In November] we saw the deadly result of their strategy of keeping people out rather than keeping people safe, when at least 27 people died off coast.

“And yet the Government wants to legalise this dangerous and callous policy in its anti-refugee bill, which will only lead to more people drowning. It must wake up and scrap this bill now.”

The number of arrivals peaked in November when, despite temperatures falling, at least 6,869 individuals reached the UK.

The same month also saw a new record for a single day, with 1,185 people reaching British shores aboard 33 boats.

And the dangers of the journey were laid bare on November 24, when at least 27 people died after their vessel sank.

Bridget Chapman, of Kent Refugee Action Network, said: "It's no surprise at all that the numbers of asylum seekers arriving by small boat has increased in this way.

"The Government spent millions fortifying the area around the post at Calais, meaning that people wanting to make a claim in the UK feel they have no option but to turn to this route.

"In actual fact numbers are down on previous years, such as in 2002 when 84,132 asylum claims were made.

"The fact is that the UK cannot use its geography to abstain from accepting those who wish to seek asylum here. Those who come are a relatively small proportion of the people that reach Europe and they come for very specific reasons such as family connections."

Ms Chapman says the Government should instead offer safe routes to asylum seekers by offering humanitarian visas and launching resettlement schemes "that are genuinely open and accessible".

Clare Moseley, founder of charity Care4Calais, says the rising number of small-boat arrivals in Britain reflects a shift away from attempts to cross by lorry.

“They are some of the most vulnerable people in the world, having lost family members in bloody conflicts, suffered horrific torture and inhumane persecution," she said.

“The Government tells us that people should travel by legal means but, if this were truly possible, why would so many be risking their lives in flimsy boats?

“If the Government were serious about stopping people smugglers, it would create a safe way for people to claim asylum and put people smugglers out of business once and for all.”

Despite international efforts to crack down on people smugglers, gangs have continued to ply the Dover Strait with their deadly trade, charging thousands of pounds for a berth in flimsy inflatable boats.

The dinghies, frequently seen leaving France before later being towed into Dover, have noticeably increased in size over the past year with some carrying as many as 50 people at a time.

Despite this, the UK’s small boat arrivals are a fraction of the number of people arriving in Europe.

At least 120,441 asylum seekers arrived in Europe following journeys across the Mediterranean in 2021, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Home Office minister Tom Pursglove MP said: “Seeking asylum for protection should not involve people asylum shopping country to country, or risking their lives by lining the pockets of criminal gangs to cross the Channel.”

He said the government is “reforming” its approach by “making the tough decisions to end the overt exploitation of our laws and UK taxpayers”.

Mr Pursglove added: “The public have been crying out for reform for two decades and that’s what this Government is delivering through our New Plan for Immigration.

“The Nationality and Borders Bill will make it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introduce life sentences for those who facilitate illegal entry into the country.

“It will also strengthen the powers of Border Force to stop and redirect vessels, while introducing new powers to remove asylum seekers to have their claims processed outside the UK.

“MPs have already voted to reform this broken and abusive system and the sooner the House of Lords approves the Borders Bill, the sooner these reforms can be delivered.”