Three people were rescued off the Kent coast after trying to cross the Channel in a kayak.

Yesterday 28 asylum seekers were brought to Dover having attempted the 31-mile crossing from Calais.

The kayak was stopped by officers shortly before 8am with two men and one woman believed to be Syrian nationals on board.

Shortly after a dinghy which had 16 people on board - 12 of whom were Iranian, two Kuwaiti, one Iraqi and another from Ethiopia.

Two hours later as the weather deteriorated the Dover lifeboat was called to assist a Border Force coastal patrol vessel intercepting a further nine people on board another dinghy. All were men who said they were from Sudan.

All 28 individuals from the incidents were brought to Dover and assessed medically.

The Home Office said they have now been transferred to immigration officials where they will be "interviewed and their cases dealt with in line with immigration rules and they will be transferred to detention where appropriate".

Border Force believes the men and women had left France, a safe country, and where appropriate says it will be seeking to return them.

Three similar incidents were recorded by officials earlier this month involving 38 migrants off the Kent coast.

UK Border Force says it is working with French officials as part of their ongoing efforts to address illegal migration and last month the Home Secretary Priti Patel spoke with her French counterpart to reaffirm a commitment to carry out more returns at sea to curb illegal crossings.

This year 21 people smugglers have been convicted and put behind bars as a result of immigration enforcement investigations.

Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts Chris Philp said: “We, using all the skills of Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and French Law enforcement, are determined to dismantle these ruthless criminal gangs who facilitate these crossings and put people’s lives in danger, and bring them to justice.”

“Over the last two months the French stopped over 1,000 migrants from making this perilous journey, and just last week we jailed two people smugglers.

“The Prime Minister and President Macron have welcomed the ongoing cooperation between the UK and France on small boats and illegal migration, and we continue to work tirelessly with our French counterparts to combat this.”

Read more: All the latest news from Dover