Thousands of asylum seekers could be housed in vessels on Tyneside, according to sources.
Rishi Sunak has revealed that two more barges will be used for migrant accommodation as part of his plan to stop Channel crossings.
The Prime Minister has declined to say where the two giant vessels would be moored.
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According to The Guardian, they are expected to be located at Teesport on Teesside as well as in docks close to Liverpool. The newspaper also cited sources which said discussions over the acquisition of further barges and disused cruise ships had taken place.
This means thousands of asylum seekers could be housed in vessels on Tyneside near Newcastle, Harwich in Essex, Felixstowe in Suffolk and the Royal London docks near City Airport. These reports have not been confirmed.
The Home Office has refused to comment on the reports, although the Government is expected to confirm which locations will be used in the coming weeks.
In a speech in Kent on Monday, Mr Sunak said the number of people making the journey across the Channel was down by around a fifth since last year but acknowledged the Government has "a long way still to go".
But during his visit to Dover, he played down suggestions that fewer crossings were a result of poor weather conditions at this time of year rather than policy decisions.
Opposition critics likened the announcement of yet more measures to tackle the crisis to "Groundhog Day" and accused Mr Sunak of "cynical spin".
It comes as peers threatened to delay the Illegal Migration Bill until the Government publishes the "facts and figures" showing the financial implications of the proposals.
Opposition peers called for the proposed legislation to be stopped from progressing further through Parliament until the findings of an economic impact assessment could be considered.
The Telegraph said Mr Sunak indicated he was open to using the Parliament Act to push through the Bill if needed. The rarely used law allows the Commons to overrule the Lords.
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