Body of migrant woman found on French beach after she tried to swim 21 miles across the English Channel to Britain equipped with a compass and high energy bars

• The body of an Asian woman migrant was discovered on a beach close to Boulogne
• The unidentified woman in her thirties was dressed in a wetsuit and had a compass around her neck

The body of a woman migrant who is believed to have tried to get into Britain by swimming to Dover has been discovered on a beach in northern France.
The illegal immigrant who was wearing a west suit and was carrying a compass and energy food bars is thought to have drowned and been washed back ashore after attempting the hazardous 21-mile crossing.
The unidentified Asian woman, thought to be in her thirties, also had spare clothes in a plastic pouch and was smeared with vaseline to keep out the cold during the swim through the world's busiest shipping lane.

Grim discovery: The body of an Asian woman migrant who is believed to have attempted to swim across the Channel from France to the UK was discovered on a beach close to Boulogne (file photo)

Police in Calais said her body was found on a beach near the coastal town of Wimereux on Sunday evening.
A Calais police spokeswoman added that it is the first death of its kind.
An autopsy to determine the woman's cause of death was expected to be carried out yesterday.
Boulogne public prosecutor Jean-Philippe Joubert said: 'The body was spotted by a passer-by on Sunday evening.
'She was wearing a wetsuit and still wet. We found clothes in a bag on cliffs above the beach.
'She was prepared for long distance swimming with vaseline on her skin to prevent irritations.
'She also had more clothes in a plastic bag underneath her wetsuit and a pocket contained energy food bars and a compass.

Location: The swimmer was found near town of Wimereux

'Swimming the Channel is a highly dangerous thing to do and is only ever attempted by very experienced swimmers with a support vessel.'
There are thought to be around 1,000 illegal immigrants massed in northern France.
Since socialist President Francois Hollande was elected in May, one new migrants’ camp – comprising wooden huts with showers and cooking facilities and dubbed a ‘mini-Sangatte’ – has been opened and others are likely to follow.
The original Red Cross Sangatte camp was closed by Nicolos Sarkozy ten years ago when he was Minister of the Interior.
A new law, to be debated in France in the autumn, could make it illegal to arrest UK-bound migrants entering Calais.
It is feared this will unleash a fresh tide of migrants on the northern French coast hoping to sneak on to lorries and ferries to Britain.
A film released three years ago called Welcome centred on a Kurdish refugee who takes swimming lessons before trying to swim to the Kent coast.
It attracted harsh criticism for presenting the bid to breach border controls as a 'noble quest'.

Echoes of real life: In 2009 a French director made a film called Welcome which told the story of a fictional migrant who tried to swim to Dover and drowned

A Calais police spokesman added: 'It may have been depicted in a fictional film, but this is the first time we have ever seen any illegal immigrant actually try to swim the channel.
'Although there may have been successful attempts that we don't know about.
'In this case all the evidence points to the fact the woman was one of the hundreds of refugees currently living on the northern French coast.
'Initial tests show she died by drowning but a full post mortem examination is being carried out.'
Two Russian migrants attempted to reach Britain in a kayak 15 years ago, but they were intercepted by a French coastguard vessel.
A British cross-Channel swimmer died last month after coming within two miles of the French coast.
The unnamed man in his 40s had swum 19 miles from Dover before falling ill within sight of Calais.
Cross-Channel swimming attempts are banned in French territorial waters due to the heavy maritime traffic and strong currents.
Captain Matthew Webb made the first recorded unassisted swim across the Channel in 1875. About 1,000 people have made the crossing since.