UK-funded French cops stood idly by as dozens of migrants sprinted across beaches to board small boats for Britain.

       The shameful scenes were captured by ITV News cameras and raise serious questions about France's commitment to stop illegal migrant crossings to the UK.

       The British government has invested a whopping ￡500million of tax payers money to help fund French patrols of its coastline for a three year period.

       Part of the money is earmarked to buy vehicles and surveillance equipment, including drones, that will help control the area.

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       In video images released by ITV News, large groups of men, women and children are seen huddling together, before sprinting across the beach to board a small boat.

       Most of the migrants appeared to be wearing life jackets, as they embarked on their perilous journey across the English Channel.

       All the while, French coppers are seen standing around, making absolutely no effort to intervene.

       The boat also appeared to become dangerously overloaded as the desperate migrants clambered on board.

       A French police officer estimated that around 100 people were on the boat, which eventually departed for Britain.

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       Further video footage showed the migrants' boat arriving at Dover, where they are currently being processed.

       The scenes captured on video make a mockery of the British government's attempts to work in partnership with France to try and stem the tide of illegal boat crossings.

       In February, James Cleverly the Home Office Minister said the two countries would "expand upon" their cooperation to limit illegal channel crossings.

       He claimed the scheme had proved successful, citing figures showing a 36-percent reduction in crossings in 2023.

       However, already in March alone more than 2,000 migrants were able to cross the English Channel to Britain.

       The UK government says that between September 2022 and 2023 a total of 45,081 illegal migrants were detected. 83 percent arrived via small boats.