What appears to be a Home Office surveillance drone caught on fire earlier today, shutting down part of the M20.
Around 2 pm, firefighters were called between Junction 13 for Folkestone and Junction 12 for Cheriton for a ‘vehicle fire’, but found the overturned drone on fire.
Home Office branding was seen on the bottom of the craft, though the office hasn’t confirmed this to Metro.
FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft is a Tekever AR5 Evolution MK2, worth up to £450,000, commonly used by the Home Office for surveillance over the English Channel.
It’s unclear what caused the fire and damage to the drone, but an investigation is underway.
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In 2020, Britain and France signed an agreement which doubled the number of police being deployed to try to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.
As part of that deal, more surveillance technology, including drones, radar equipment, cameras and optronic binoculars, was promised.
Earlier this month, migrants who arrived on UK shores at Dover became the first people detained under the new ‘one in, one out’ deal with France.
The agreement with the French government came into force weeks after it was first announced by Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron.
By the end of July, more than 25,000 people had made the crossing over the English Channel in small, often not seaworthy boats.
Last year is said to be the deadliest on record for Channel crossings, according to the Refugee Council.
At least 69 people died trying to get to the UK, the charity said.
Migrant crossings have become a point of contention lately, as protests around migrant hotels are becoming larger.
Today, Starmer announced a new approach to tackle the increasing asylum claims in the UK as unrest over migrant hotels mounts.
On average, asylum appeal cases take up to 53 weeks to be processed, but new independent bodies will soon be established to speed up the process.
The new body will determine if the Home Office’s decision to refuse asylum and face deportation should be upheld, and claims it will get people out of hotels, cut taxpayer costs and speed up the lengthy process.
It will have statutory powers to prioritise cases from those in asylum accommodation and foreign national offenders, which have prompted major protests outside of some migrant hotels.
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