Migrant Channel rescue

More than 100 migrants have crossed from France since November.

Six suspected migrants rescued from Dover shipping lane

Six suspected migrants have been rescued from a dinghy in the Channel and brought ashore at Dover.

Coastguards and a lifeboat crew were called at about 03:30 GMT to a small boat six miles off the Kent coast, in the Dover Strait inshore traffic lane.

The Home Office said the five men and one woman in the boat claimed to be Iranian nationals.

More than 100 migrants, the majority of whom claimed to be Iranian, crossed the Channel from France in November.

Warnings have gone out from the UK authorities about the dangers of taking small boats on the Dover-Calais route – the world’s busiest shipping lane.

A Home Office spokesman said the coastguard contacted the Border Force in the early hours, and a cutter and lifeboat were sent to assist a dinghy off the coast of Dover with six people on board.

They were brought back to Dover onboard the cutter.

“They received a medical assessment and have now been transferred to immigration officials for interview,” he added,

It is the second such boat reported have to arrived this month.

Source: bbc.co.uk