A gang of people smugglers - including father-of-two- brought illegal immigrants into Kent using inflatable boats, which were then abandoned on a beach.

Dinghies were found on the beach at St Margaret's Bay in Dover and investigators believe at least three trips from France were made in the year from October 2017 - some without people having life jackets, lights or radar.

Prosecutor Daniel Fugallo revealed: "Had someone fallen overboard they would not have survived for long in the English Channel."

Canterbury Crown Court said that each time the gang spent more than £3200 for a boat and motor.

Now one of the men, Feim Vata, 32, a father-of-two formerly from Gravesend. has been jailed for eight years after admitting conspiring to smuggle Albanians in the county.

His pal Xhemal Baco, 24, from The Broadway, Farnham Common, Slough, was also today jailed for eight years after admitting the same offence.

Judge Simon James said: "This was professional organised crime, specifically designed to exploit desperate and vulnerable people and putting their lives at risk.

"The spectre of dead bodies being washed up on the Kent coastline means there has to be a deterrent sentence."

People were travelling on the boats without life jackets and the dinghies did not have lights or radar.

He added:"Crossing the busiest shipping channel in the world is the equivalent of pushing someone in a shopping trolley across all the lanes of a busy motorway."

Mr Fugallo said the top man - who is believed to run a carwash business in Slough - is now on the run and being hunted by police.

"Crossing the busiest shipping channel in the world is the equivalent of pushing someone in a shopping trolley across all the lanes of a busy motorway..." Mr Fugallo

The prosecutor said the gang completed at least three successful trips for cash, although it is unknown how much was paid by the Albanians.

He said: "I can safely infer that large sums of money must be involved because the £3000 boats were bought and the two paid for hotels in Deal to collect the people."

The court heard how the gang smuggled Albanians from France to Kent and Border Force officials believe the group also abandoned at least two other attempts.

"Both men were involved in the obtaining of the boats. Baco's role was as a sailor who took the boat across the Channel and returned at night. Vata travelled from Slough to Deal to collect the men in a people carrier."

Both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to a member state on Monday.

In October 2017 the ringleader went to a marina in Welwyn Garden Centre and paid £3400 in cash for the inflatable boat and engine.

That was later found abandoned at St Margaret's Bay and six people are believed to have been brought in.

In July, another boat was bought from the same shop when Vata gave a fake address and two months later it was used to bring six migrants to Kent.

One man walking his dog spotted men standing on the beach shivering.

In October customs officers spotted a small boat coming across the Channel at 5am and the illegals - men aged between 22 and 40 - were seen "cold and wet" before being arrested by police.

"It was reckless to even attempt such a crossing and everyone is extremely lucky to have survived...”Det Insp Clair Trueman

Two other attempts were thwarted when one of the boats was spotted by Border Officers on patrol and another because of bad weather, the court heard.

The court heard that Baco, who came to the UK illegally by boat in 2017, then started to help bring others from Albania.

His barrister Jade Gambrill said: "He was given the worst job as sailor and clearly the most dangerous job."

Defence barrister for Vata ,Steven Attridge said the plasterer got into debts because of drinking and gambling.

After the hearing the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) said the convictions followed months of investigation.

It was assisted by Kent Police, the National Crime Agency, UK Border Force, French Police, French Navy, National Maritime Information Centre, Immigration Enforcement and Thames Valley Police.

The men were arrested on October 20 in a pre-planned operation.

Det Insp Clair Trueman from SEROCU, who led the investigation said: “This was a large scale operation, involving a number of agencies both here in the UK and aboard.

“We are pleased with today’s sentence and the guilty pleas by the men, which shows the quality of evidence that was put forward could not be refuted. Whilst I am pleased that these men are now behind bars, it is amazing that no one died during the extremely risky process.

“When the men and the illegal migrants were arrested, we found them cold and wet, they had travelled in an overloaded inflatable boat with no life vests or navigation equipment and across a busy shipping lane in total darkness.

“Experts told us that attempting to cross the channel in a boat the size Baco and Vata did, is like trying to cross the M25 at its busiest time on foot.

"They also told us that the boat was extremely unsuitable and overloaded. The boat Baco and Vata used is not designed to cross the channel, they used empty water bottles for bailing the water out which was found with the boat. It was reckless to even attempt such a crossing and everyone is extremely lucky to have survived.”