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Boats carrying suspected migrants intercepted near Dungeness and St Margaret's Bay

12:42, 22 March 2019

updated: 14:50, 22 March 2019

Two boats carrying suspected migrants have intercepted near Dungeness and St Margaret's Bay this morning.

Both vessels are thought to have carried a number of people across the English Channel before being stopped by Border Force close to the Kent coast.

They are the second and third boats to have arrived in the county this week - with a small craft carrying 16 people landing in Dover on Tuesday.

A Border Force vessel. Library image
A Border Force vessel. Library image

One man was arrested after the first incident this morning at 6am, where a Border Force cutter was deployed to St Margaret's Bay.

Then at 7.30am crews were alerted to another small boat travelling across the Channel heading towards the Dungeness area.

Seven people were found on board an inflatable boat and brought to Dover where they were due to be medically assessed.

Their nationalities are not yet known.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: "At 7.18am on Friday, March 22, Kent Police was made aware of a vessel transporting suspected migrants in the English Channel near to Dungeness.

"The vessel was intercepted by Border Force."

Read more: All the latest news from Romney Marsh

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