Eight men have been charged over a people smuggling operation which brought Albanian migrants across the Channel to Kent in small boats.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) launched an investigation after an inflatable dingy was found abandoned on a beach near Dymchurch in May last year. It showed signs of recent use.

Eighteen days after the discovery another RHIB carrying 18 Albanian nationals was rescued from the channel.

It had broken down and was taking on water. The NCA prosecuted the two British skippers, Mark Stribling and Robert Stilwell, who were arrested and later sentenced to more than four years’ imprisonment.

The eight charged by the NCA are alleged to have been connected to both incidents.

They are: Leonard Powell and George Powell from Farningham, Alfie Powell from Swanley, Wayne Bath from Warden, Alan Viles from Folkestone, Albert Letchford from Gravesend, Francis Wade from Rochester and Sabah Dulaj, an Albanian national.

All are due to appear at Medway Magistrates Court on July 18.

Brendan Foreman, the NCA's Regional Head of Investigations said: “National Crime Agency officers have been running a complex investigation for more than a year targeting those alleged to be involved in smuggling migrants using small boats.

“The NCA and its partners in Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Kent Police and the wider policing community work collaboratively to disrupt any activity that puts people's lives at risk and threatens the integrity of the UK’s Border.”