A man was missing in the English Channel for nearly eight hours.

The coastguard recieved a call from a member of the public at around 12.10pm saying a friend was swimming the 27 mile stretch from Dover to Calais unaccompanied.

Rescue teams from Deal and Langdon, an RNLI lifeboat from Dover and the search and rescue helicopter from Lydd were assisting.

He was spotted 500 metres off Dover shortly before 8pm and was taken aboard by the RNLI Dungeness lifeboat.

A spokesman for the coastguard said: "He was cold and tired but otherwise well. He has been brought to shore and will be checked over by South East Ambulance Service."

Read more: All the latest news from Dover