Dover MP Charlie Elphicke is calling for more severe action to be taken against human traffickers after eight illegal immigrants were rescued from the Channel when their inflatable boat started to sink.

Mr Elphicke described the trade in people smuggling as “one of the great evils of our times – modern day slavery”.

“Tragedy was narrowly avoided on the English Channel this week,” he said. “It was by good fortune that no one died.”

The alarm was raised about 7.30am on Monday when the inflatable boat containing the would-be immigrants and two British men got into difficulty in French waters, in the south west shipping lane.

Dover lifeboat was launched and an air-sea rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham also joined the search.

The crew of the P&O ferry Pride of Kent, which was in the area at the time, were asked to look out for the boat and anyone who might be in the water.

Ten people were picked up at the scene by the French authorities, with one person being airlifted to hospital in Calais suffering from hypothermia.

When they arrived in the area, the crew of Dover Lifeboat searched for other casualties. Two fuel tanks were recovered from the sea but it was confirmed that everyone else had been accounted for. The lifeboat was stood down at 11am.

All the suspected illegal immigrants and the two British people who had been on the inflatable boat were arrested by French border police.

Mr Elphicke praised Dover Lifeboat and the RAF and added: “Human trafficking is one of the great evils of our times. It is modern day slavery. Vulnerable people are spirited into the country and exploited mercilessly by gangs.

“Sometimes they are forced to grow cannabis in warehouses. They are made to live on site so no one is seen going in or out by anti-drugs security forces. Sometimes they are simply enslaved."

Full story in this week's Dover Mercury.