THREE men are being questioned by immigration officers after being rescued from a dinghy the Channel by Dover lifeboat.

The alarm was raised at about 6am on Sunday when the crew of the P&O ferry Pride of Burgundy saw the dinghy seven miles off the Kent coast.

When the lifeboat arrived, they found the men in the middle of one of the busy shipping lanes, bailing water from the dinghy, which was said to be no more than six feet long and totally unsuitable for being taken out in the Channel.

They were brought to Dover and handed over to the immigration authorities for questioning.