A man in his 40s has died while trying to swim the English Channel.

Emergency services were alerted last night when he fell ill while half way across and 12 miles from Dover.

It is understood he had set out from Kent and was making his way to Calais.

A Coastguard helicopter based at Lydd was scrambled around 9.30pm and airlifted the swimmer to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford where he was later pronounced dead.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said this morning: "Last night at around 9.20pm, UK Coastguard received a VHF Radio call from a support vessel reporting that a cross channel swimmer was in difficulty and needed assistance.

"The vessel was in French waters around 12nm (nautical miles) from Dover.

"The UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Lydd, which was training nearby, arrived on scene within 10 minutes and airlifted the swimmer to the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.

"We do not have any further details."

Police have since confirmed the swimmer died.

A spokesman said: "We were called at 9.44pm to a report that a man in his 40s had become unwell following an attempt to swim the English Channel.

"The man was flown to a local hospital and later died. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner."

A spokesman for the Channel Swimming Association said: "The CSA Ltd believes that there has been an incident involving a person swimming the English Channel.

"This swimmer was not swimming under the auspices of the Channel Swimming Association.

"Therefore we are unable to make a comment about this incident.

"The thoughts and prayers of the Board and members of the CSA are with the swimmer, their family and friends at this time.

"We also wish to express our support for the organisations involved at this time."