Illegal immigrants targeting Portsmouth ferries treble

♦ The increasing popularity of a Spanish migrant route has seen three times as many illegal immigrants caught heading for a British port.

Figures show that officials have already detained 1,251 people trying to board ferries heading for Portsmouth, Hants, this year compared with 436 in the whole of 2016.

Brittany Ferries, which runs the route from Bilbao to Portsmouth, has called on port security in Spain to be tightened to stop migrants trying to board ships.

A spokesman said most of those involved were young, male Albanian nationals.

He added: “In Bilbao, a port infraction is treated as a civil misdemeanour and offenders are simply released to try again.”