A COASTGUARD boat that picked up 140 migrants was denied entry to two ports before bringing migrants ashore in Portsmouth during large protests, it has been revealed.
The RNLI boat in the English Channel were also threatened with legal action if it approached either Southampton Port or Portsmouth Harbour, Hants.
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The crew was forced to bring the migrants to Eastney, Hants, where hundreds of cops and protesters awaited them.
Around 200 people – some wearing face coverings – descended on Eastney ferry port in Portsmouth after over 100 migrants were brought to shore.
Eastney is in Portsmouth but is several miles further along the coastline than Portsmouth Harbour.
Cops guarded coaches parked on a roadside not far from the marina, as protesters blocked the flow of traffic and stopped RNLI teams from accessing the port.
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Several vans and cars were reportedly damaged as multiple officers were injured during the chaos which went deep into the night.
The migrant boat from Normandy which sparked the chaos was thought to have been the longest-ever Channel crossing by people smugglers.
It was intercepted in the Solent between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth earlier on Sunday.
A broadcast on an open marine VHF radio detailed that Southampton Vessel Traffic Service and King’s Harbour Master Portsmouth denied the RNLI permission to enter into both of their ports and their approaches.
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The broadcast also informed the RNLI coxswains from Bembridge and Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight that failure to comply with this would lead to direct criminal prosecution against them.
A spokesperson for Associated British Ports (ABP) confirmed the crew was told not to come to Southampton.
They said: “ABP did receive an enquiry about landing recovered migrants at the Port of Southampton.
“We had to decline the enquiry as the Port did not have suitable reception facilities available. If there had been a safety of life at sea issue where Southampton was the closest port or if we had received a formal Direction from the authorities then we would have played a role.
“Neither was the case in this situation.”
Portsmouth City Council said the Home Office had “serious questions to answer” over the decision to bring migrants to shore in the area.
Council leader Steve Pitt said the move had caused “needless disruption”.
The King’s Harbour Master Portsmouth has been approached for comment.
The Home Office said in a statement: “All of those brought ashore have left the landing site and are being transported for processing in the usual way”.
The RNLI aided more than 36,000 people across its lifeboat and lifeguard services in recent annual figures, with crews launching over 9,000 times per year to assist those in distress at sea.
RNLI lifeboat crews have always launched to the rescue of those at sea without judgement or preference.
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It follows a similar incident on Saturday, which saw some 625 masked men assemble at the Port of Dover to protest against small-boat crossings.
A total of 16,513 people arrived in the UK on small boats up until September 1, 43 per cent less than the same period the previous year.