THE sport equipment retailer Decathlon will no longer sell canoes in the north of France to prevent migrants from attempting to use them to cross to England.

Tuesday’s announcement came as hundreds of people crossed the English Channel by boat in what was a busy day for U.K. search and rescue forces. There were multiple landings along the Kent coastline, including about 60 people who landed at Dungeness. The U.K. Home Office said 1,185 people arrived on small boats Nov. 11, surpassing the previous daily record of 853 set earlier this month.

“The purchase of canoes will no longer be possible” in Decathlon stores in Calais and Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk, “given the current context,” the retailer said.

The items were not being used for their original sporting purpose, but “could be used to cross the channel,” it said. In such cases, “people’s lives would be endangered,” the retailer argued.

The stores themselves had decided to stop selling the canoes and the company’s management had approved the decision, Decathlon said.

The canoes will continue to be available for online purchase and in other stores. Other safety equipment, such as life jackets and thermal protection, will still be sold in the Calais and Grande-Synthe stores.(SD-Agencies)