A weekend protest over the arrival of migrants in Hampshire has generated a policing bill of more than £200,000, putting renewed pressure on the government over the costs associated with small-boat crossings and their aftermath.
Donna Jones, Hampshire’s police and crime commissioner, said the operation to police demonstrations in Gosport had required officers from six different police forces, with the bill potentially rising sharply if similar protests continue.
“We had 11 different police support units coming from six different police forces,” Jones said. “It would have cost over £200,000 on Sunday alone.”
The warning comes after about 350 people left Haslar Road at around 2 am on Monday following the arrival of a group of migrants, who were brought ashore by coastguard, lifeboat and border security personnel.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary imposed conditions on the protest under the Public Order Act, alongside powers restricting the wearing of face coverings. Twelve people were arrested, including 11 men aged between 22 and 59 and a 57-year-old woman.
Police have since charged one 38-year-old man with failing to comply with restrictions imposed on the protest.
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Jones warned that the financial burden could become considerably larger if protests become a recurring feature of migrant arrivals in the county. She said she feared policing costs could reach almost £1mn a month.
The commissioner called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to compensate Hampshire and ensure Border Force can transport migrants directly to Dover rather than bringing them ashore along the southern coastline.
The dispute highlights a broader economic problem created by the concentration of migration-related pressures in coastal communities: the immediate costs can extend well beyond accommodation, placing additional demands on policing, local government and emergency services.
Reform UK’s Gosport group leader, Councillor Paul Carter, also put the cost of Sunday’s operation at more than £200,000 and claimed a further £250,000 had been spent policing Gosport and Eastney the previous month.
He criticised the use of a Section 34 dispersal order, saying: “Gosport residents deserve to know why a town of over 80,000 people were subjected to such sweeping and extraordinary measures, leaving residents unable to access their own homes and local businesses stripped of customers.”
George Madgwick, Reform UK’s leader in Hampshire, said the £200,000 figure did not include ambulance, council clean-up, coastguard, coach and travel costs.
“Disgusting. For 149 undocumented people. That’s before they get to their hotels with 3 meals a day. Honestly, what a joke.”
The competing claims underline the growing political sensitivity around the cost of small-boat arrivals. For Hampshire, the immediate question is whether a single weekend’s policing operation becomes the template for a much larger recurring bill.
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