An MP has expressed his concerns after fake University of Kent degrees were found on sale in China.

Julian Brazier, member for Canterbury and Whitstable, is now writing to the Foreign Office after the BBC discovered certificates for the Canterbury university for sale online for £500.

Mr Brazier believes the bogus degrees could be used to gain visas or jobs in the UK and to evade immigration controls.

A spokesman for the University of Kent told the BBC that “students worked hard to gain their degrees at UK universities” and called the situation “very worrying”.

They said: “Any employer or other organisation that has doubts about the authenticity of a University of Kent degree certificate is urged to contact us and we will be happy to verify the qualification.”

The website describes the documents as “a replacement for lost diplomas” for “novelty purposes”.

During an email conversation with the website, registered in Beijing, the BBC was told: “We can make it the same as the original one, and you can use it to look for a good job.”

Copyright lawyer Dean Orgil told the BBC it would be hard to track down the people behind the site.

He said: “Even if money was spent trying to track down the originators it would be difficult to take any sort of realistic, meaningful enforcement action, so universities are in a difficult position here.”