Footage has emerged showing coaches leaving the Gosport area under a significant police escort following heightened tensions over the expected arrival of migrants rescued from the English Channel.

The video was shared with UKNIP on Tuesday evening shows the coaches had been intended to transport migrants following the major rescue operation in the Channel.

Footage shows the vehicles travelling in convoy accompanied by a number of police vehicles.

Sources described the scenes as an unusually large motorcade and claimed the coaches had been due to collect migrants in Gosport.

The claim about the purpose of the coaches has not yet been independently confirmed.

PROTESTERS GATHERED IN GOSPORT

Hundreds of protesters had gathered near a police cordon in Gosport earlier on Tuesday following speculation that around 60 migrants rescued from a dinghy could be brought ashore in Hampshire.

The small boat had spent more than 33 hours at sea after setting out from Normandy before those aboard were taken onto RNLI lifeboats.

The migrants were subsequently transferred to the Border Force vessel HMC Vigilant.

Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage said Border Force would instead take those involved in the crossing to Dover by sea.

The operation followed an unusually long Channel journey after the dinghy reportedly departed from near Vierville-sur-Mer, west of Bayeux in Normandy.

French maritime authorities said around 60 people were aboard and that those on the vessel had been weakened after more than 33 hours in precarious conditions at sea.

The latest developments come amid heightened tensions on the south coast following previous demonstrations connected with Channel crossings.

Earlier this month, around 200 protesters gathered at Eastney Marina after approximately 120 people who had crossed the Channel were brought ashore. The Government subsequently told Parliament that three coaches intended to transport those arrivals were blocked by protesters before eventually leaving in the early hours.