Border Force hires private vessels for Channel patrols after new fleet delayed

Contracts, which will cost £36m a year, tendered following news that existing boats will be replaced four years later than planned

The Home Office has had to procure private boats at the cost of £36m a year to help Border Force patrol the Channel for small boats, owing to a delay in plans to replace the current fleet.

Replacing the fleet of five cutters and six coastal patrol vessels, some of which are 20 years old, will now not begin until March 2026, four years later than planned.