POLICE are using heat-seeking drones and dogs at Poole port to detect illegal migrants who are 'changing their tactics', a new report has revealed.

Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, said that those looking to enter the UK illegally were increasingly shunning Dover and trying Poole and Portsmouth instead.

Poole managers told inspectors that migrants were organised and, in order to avoid detection, would shift loads - moving from one freight vehicle to another prior to disembarkation to frustrate Border Force’s probing. Illegal migrants would jump down from trailers in a “starburst” effect as soon as they were unloaded from the ferry. However, no Border Force official had experienced aggressive behaviour from them.

The number of illegal migrants detected at Poole in the last year is 117 - up 34 in 12 months. However, the port issued just one civil penalty to lorry drivers because, it said, of difficulties proving they knew or had not taken the correct precautions to prevent illegals using their vehicles.

Mr Bolt believes that because of the closure of migrant camps in northern France: "The numbers discovered at Portsmouth and Poole had indeed increased, suggesting that irregular migrants looking to enter the UK were now targeting the ferry ports in Normandy and Spain."

His report noted that between April 2016 and March 2018, Poole made use of police custody for immigration purposes on 59 occasions, although it had not been invoiced for this by Dorset Police.

Whist finding that Border Force on the south coast had put 'considerable effort' into improving its coverage, through coastal patrols and more field intelligence work Mr Bolt said that Poole, along with its sister ports were very much the 'poor relations' of Dover, regarding equipment such as scanners.

His findings echo the fears of Dorset's Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill who has called on the government to improve existing security measures, to ensure adequate resources are available to monitor threats.