The search for a pilot missing after a plane crashed in the English Channel has been called off this morning.

The aircraft, which was carrying one person from Hampshire to Le Touquet, came down at around 2.30pm yesterday.

Wreckage of the American-registered plane has been found about 15 miles off the coast of Dungeness.

An air-and-sea search operation by Kent and French crews was launched yesterday afternoon, but was stood down at dark.

"There were effects recovered that could have come from the cockpit area, but unfortunately we have not found the pilot and we must consider him lost now..." - Gordon Wise, Dover Coastguard

It was announced this morning the search will not continue - and the wreckage has been passed to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which will take over the case.

Gordon Wise, senior watch manager at Dover Coastguard, said the pilot must now be considered lost.

He said: "The search was called off at 5.30am. The rescue units did finish at darkness last night - there was no conceivable point in continuing due to the weather conditions.

"A decision was made this morning, having looked at all the available evidence of our computer projections of where the person may have been.

"The size of the wreckage that was being recovered indicated that the aircraft had entered the water at some speed.

"It was all small stuff that was being recovered. There were effects recovered that could have come from the cockpit area, but unfortunately we have not found the pilot and we must consider him lost now."

The search was launched yesterday involving both English and French teams, including a French helicopter and the Dungeness RNLI lifeboat.

The alarm was raised after the single-engine light aircraft failed to arrive at Le Touquet airport after leaving Blackbushe in Hampshire.

The incident happened four miles inside UK waters and is being co-ordinated by the British with help from the French authorities.

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency last night said a helicopter from RAF Wattisham in Suffolk was due to replace a French helicopter that had been searching for several hours.

Lifeboats from Dungeness and Calais were also involved in the operation.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) spokesman said: "The AAIB have deployed a team to collect evidence and begin an initial investigation.

"The position of the aircraft will determine if the full investigation will be led by the AAIB or the French authorities."

A Dungeness RNLI spokesman said the station had been tasked by Dover Coastguard to launch the Pride and Spirit lifeboat at 3.35pm to help in the rescue.

The Mersey class lifeboat and its crew of six took around 55 minutes to make their way to the search scene - 15 miles south of Dungeness Point.

There they joined two French lifeboats and an English rescue helicopter looking for any signs of the downed light aircraft and its pilot.