Chaotic scenes as hundreds of anti-migrant protestors descend on Portsmouth and clash with riot police after some 140 asylum seekers are rescued from ‘mega-dinghy’ and brought ashore 

More than 500 anti-asylum seeker protesters have clashed with police after 140 migrants were rescued from a mega-dinghy and brought ashore in Portsmouth.

Less than 48 hours after a ‘Stop the Boats’ demonstration shut down the Port of Dover, protesters gathered near Eastney Beach in Hampshire last night, chanting ‘stop the boats’ and ‘enough is enough’.

Around 140 migrants are understood to have arrived in Portsmouth yesterday afternoon, prompting the mass protest.

The dinghy is believed to have set off from Normandy rather than Calais, suggesting people smugglers may be expanding their launch points along the French coastline in an effort to reach the UK.

The French coastguard shadowed the vessel but said it was too dangerous to intervene because of the number of people on board. British lifeboats then took over and brought the migrants to the UK.

After online calls were made for demonstrators to head to Portsmouth, hundreds arrived and vowed to stop the migrants being transported by coach to a processing centre in Kent.

Protesters, some of whom had waded into the sea earlier in the day, said they were prepared to remain throughout the night to block any routes out of the city, leading to clashes with police as riot officers were deployed.

Eastney is just four miles from the Port of Portsmouth and the HM Naval Base, home to six Royal Navy destroyers and its two flagship aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

In protest footage shared on social media, a riot officer appeared to be pushed from his motorbike as demonstrators, many wearing caps and hoods, shouted: ‘Shame on you.’

Further clips showed officers carrying shields ordering the crowd to ‘get back’ before pushing some protesters away from a nearby police van.

The demonstrators remained in the area until almost midnight amid chaotic scenes and multiple clashes with officers near the waterfront.

The protest is thought to have been spearheaded by Daniel Thomas, the Tommy Robinson associate whose Patriot Platform group organised a mass demonstration in Dover on Saturday.

Live-streaming the protest, he said: ‘It was only yesterday (in Dover) when we warned them that we will not accept this any more, and that it is no longer an option to tell us the boat numbers are down.

‘This isn’t about the numbers being down. This is about understanding that this has to come to an end now.’

However, unlike in Dover, the hundreds of protesters this time chose not to wear masks or balaclavas, although many were dressed in black.

The dinghy arrived on British shores after setting off from the Bay of the Seine, Normandy. They had been shadowed for around 10 hours by rescue boats. 

The French coastguard had apparently deemed it unsafe to stop the boat on water during what is thought to have been one of the longest Channel crossings ever. 

The HM Coastguard sent two lifeboats, a coastguard helicopter, a fixed-wing aircraft  and rescue teams to ensure the asylum seekers reached the British shore safely. 

And in others, riot officers appear to be sprayed with water from super-soakers as dozens watching on record them on their phones. 

Earlier in the day, protestors shared videos of them entering the water. 

Thomas, who livestreamed the event on YouTube, was heard urging his supporters to ‘get in your cars and get down here’ as he stood waist-deep in the sea.

Separate footage meanwhile appeared to show a pensioner delivering supplies to protestors via canoe. 

The authorities in France have said that it is unusual for a migrant boat to depart from the Bay of the Seine, located some 170 miles from the usual launches in Calais.

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: ‘In response to a report on September 6 of a small boat heading towards the Hampshire coast, HM Coastguard sent lifeboats, an HM Coastguard helicopter, an HM Coastguard aeroplane and HM Coastguard Rescue Teams. 

‘Border Force, Border Security Command, Hampshire Police and South Central Ambulance Service were also sent.’

Clips posted online later showed people being ushered off lifeboats to shore, where they were met by several buses.  

Cllr George Madgwick, leader of Reform UK in Hampshire, wrote in a post on X that ‘over 100 migrant men’ had arrived in Portsmouth.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage meanwhile posted: ‘A boat launched from Baie de Seine, 170 miles from Calais, arrived on the beaches of Hampshire for the very first time. This is a joke. Only Reform will send the boats back.’

The crossing comes on the same week that Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss how to ‘scale up’ efforts to reduce small boat crossings. 

Only last month, a small boat carrying record numbers of migrants – believed to be more than 230 – successfully crossed the English Channel. 

And earlier this week hundreds of anti-migrant protestors donning balaclavas brought the Port of Dover to a standstill.

Demonstrators were heard chanting ‘stop the boats’ while blocking many of the town’s roads. Some of those in attendance claimed links to Patriot Platform, a hard-Right organisation made up of anti-migrant groups from around the country. 

Kent Police were thought to have been ‘unaware’ that the protest was taking place, leaving them ‘thin on the ground’ as hundreds marched the streets of the town.  

Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal and former Home Office minister, said: ‘I will be looking urgently on Monday to ask questions around why we didn’t know about this, because we do tend to know when protests are coming to the area, and they tend to be peaceful, and laws aren’t broken, and obviously the police have the resources to manage that.

‘But in this instance, it would appear that the police didn’t know about it, and the resources were pretty thin on the ground, to be quite honest from what I saw. We know that laws were broken because they were blocking the roads and wearing face coverings.’

In response, Kent Police told the Daily Mail it was a ‘spontaneous event and was policed accordingly’. 

Police made no arrests and escorted the protesters to Dover Priory train station at around midday.

At least 100 people were seen boarding a train to Ramsgate, with some since spotted in nearby Sandwich where ‘police are in attendance’.

Patriot Platform was founded earlier this year by Daniel Thomas, a convicted kidnapper and associate of Tommy Robinson.

Sharing clips of the protest in Dover to his social media, Thomas wrote: ‘It’s time. Protect Our Country! And more importantly, our women and children! This is our warning.’

A government spokesman said: ‘We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour we are seeing tonight.

‘The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.

‘We thank the emergency services who are working to safely manage this situation.’

Hampshire Constabulary said: ‘This evening (Sunday 6 September), we have been working alongside and assisting our partners from Border Force, Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Portsmouth City Council at Eastney Marina following the arrival of a boat crossing the channel.

‘We have officers in the area to ensure the prevention of any disorder. We ask that people please avoid the area. A dispersal order is in place until tomorrow evening (Monday 7 September). Anyone who refuses to comply with the direction to leave the area is liable for arrest.

‘We can also confirm that Border Force has advised us that Individuals will be transported outside of Hampshire for processing in the normal way after they have been safely disembarked.’