A trucker has been charged with attempting to smuggle people, including a suspected paedophile, out of the UK.

He is accused of transporting groups on two occasions.

One of the men found inside his trailer is suspected of child sex offences.

Romanian national Sebastian Gabriel Podar ,48, was arrested as part of a National Crime Agency operation at the port of Dover in the early hours of Wednesday.

Nine people were discovered in the rear of his lorry, which was booked onto a ferry to France.

Among them was a 39-year-old Bangladeshi man under investigation for child sexual offences by Nottinghamshire Police. He was arrested and now faces charges.

The remaining eight, of Indian, Algerian and Bangladeshi nationality, were handed to the immigration authorities.

Podar had previously been stopped on October 16 in the same lorry by police in the Edmonton area of north London. On that occasion six people were found inside.

NCA officers charged Podar with two counts of attempting to facilitate a breach of immigration law.

He appeared before Margate magistrates on Thursday and was remanded in custody until his next appearance at Canterbury Crown Court on January 4.

NCA operations manager Chris Hill said: “Organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA and we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in people smuggling.

“Complicit lorry drivers and the networks behind them are using both legs of their journeys to smuggle people into and out of the UK to maximise their profits.

“I hope these arrests send out a clear message to the drivers involved in this activity and those considering fleeing the UK in this manner for whatever reason."

Mr Hill said that the operation involved the NCA working with Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and Nottinghamshire Police.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover