Hidden from view behind an isolated woodland near Dover lies the haunting reminder of the lengths people crossing the Channel go to for a chance to reach the UK.

Stacked on top of one another and buried behind lorry cabs and white vans are inflatable, flimsy boats used to carry the many people trying to reach UK soil after leaving Calais.

People living in “camps” in Calais previously told the PA news agency that they would rather take the risk on the Channel’s treacherous waters than stay where they are.

Channel crossing incidents
Boats are stored at a facility near Dover in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

On Wednesday, 27 people making their way from France to England lost their lives.

Women and children were among those on board the boat which capsized after leaving Calais. Just two survived.

A picture of the boat that carried them looked similar to those found outside a high-security government compound next to woodland less than half an hour’s drive from where the people crossing the Channel take their first steps on UK soil.

The boats, still inflated, lie on top of one another. They have been taken from where they were left by people hoping for a better life in England to the warehouse where they are a reminder of the perilous journey from Calais to Dover.

The Home Office said in July the boats are stored to use as evidence in people-smuggler prosecutions.

Those wanting to make their way to the UK are willing to pay thousands of pounds to people smugglers who can buy the vessels for a very small fraction of their takings.

Migrant Channel crossing incidents
Boats at a storage facility near Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Last month in Hull, Nzar Mohamad, 34, was jailed for his part in a people-smuggling plot, in which he arranged to bring 21 people to the UK. He had bought a dinghy for £6,500.

Mohamad had arrived in the UK in a lorry in 2019 and had himself paid £2,000 to a people smuggler for the journey.

Some of those living in Calais’ camps described what life would be like compared with what they had left behind in Iraq, Iran and Belarus.

Ali, 23, from Iraq, told PA: “We don’t have a life. We want to live like you in the UK. You only have one life. People are trying and they die or have a chance to get past (the Channel.)”

He said the news of Wednesday’s deaths had not put him off getting into the small boats, adding: “They had no chance to pass but maybe we do.”

Another man, who did not want to be named, said he was due to board a boat on Wednesday, and he had even gone to a boat to meet smugglers, but his attempt was stopped by police.

He said: “There were two boats and one had already gone.”

The man was among those who said the news of Wednesday’s drowning had “scared” them, but added that they would still be attempting to make their way across the Channel.