A dinghy carrying 157 people has capsized after its engine caught fire as it attempted to cross the Channel from France.

The people onboard were rescued from the water after a major air and sea operation was launched using UK border security and French vessels along with an RNLI boat.

According to French authorities there were initially 162 people onboard but five were rescued overnight in an earlier incident and taken back to Boulogne. The rest of the passengers said they wanted to continue their journey.

The dingy was carrying the second highest number of people so far this year. A boat that arrived on 23 Julywas carrying 165 passengers.

A coastguard spokesperson said: “A vessel caught fire earlier this morning whilst in the French search and rescue region. UK vessels and a lifeboat are assisting.”

An RNLI spokesperson said Eastbourne’s all-weather lifeboat launched at 6am on Tuesday.

On Monday, Reform UK proposed using the Royal Navy to return people to France or Belgium under a plan they called “operation fortress”. The party has described the scheme as a humanitarian response.

Responding to Tuesday’s incident, Nigel Farage wrote on X: “We must put a stop to this. Our plan will save lives.”

The party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, said: “Just like Reform policy: rescue and return. It’s the humanitarian thing to do. We must stop people dying.”

Last week, four people died on overcrowded boats trying to cross the Channel.

Smugglers are using increasingly dangerous techniques in response to successive UK government clampdowns to stop crossings.

They are also launching boats from parts of the coast in northern France that are farther away from the UK in the hope of evading French police interceptions. The boat on Tuesday reportedly left from Dieppe, about 70 miles (112km) from the UK compared with the Calais to Dover route of 27 miles.

The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised to continue working to stop the crossings, although more than 2,000 people have crossed the Channel since he became prime minister. The government has put a number of deterrents in place to stop crossings, but desperate people continue to get into increasingly dangerous dinghies.

According to a statement issued by French authorities on Tuesday, the people in the boat initially refused an offer of assistance. “Given the structural fragility of the overcrowded boats, the decision was made not to force the migrants to board state rescue vessels, to avoid endangering their lives in the event of a shipwreck,” the statement read.

All 157 people are thought to have been returned to Boulogne.