A total of nine people have been rescued after an inflatable boat ran into trouble 20 miles off the Kent coast.

Reports suggest the coastguard and RNLI this morning were called to the incident south of Dungeness in Romney Marsh.

Meanwhile, our reporter was contacted by someone claiming to be a friend of a person on-board the vessel.

They said: “I don’t know exactly if my friend is there or not, but last night they tried going to England by France with a boat.

“We spoke with him up until he said they were going on the sea.

“Now nobody answers (the phone), we are afraid whether they are alive. They are Albanians."

Coastguard and lifeboat teams including Dungeness's RNLI rushed to scene.

Speaking at the time of the incident a Maritime and Coastguard spokesman said: "Dover Coastguard are involved in an ongoing search and rescue operation.

"We will update on the progress of the search as soon as possible."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "At 5.30am this morning, Border Force received a call from The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) after concerns were raised about a small boat off the coast of East Sussex.

"The MCA launched a search and rescue operation with the RNLI to locate the boat.

"It was found and is now in Eastbourne Harbour where the nine people on board, who presented themselves as being from Albania, are being dealt with by Border Force.

"The group consisted of eight men and one woman and they will be processed in line with immigration rules.

"An investigation led by the National Crime Agency is now underway."

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke said: "This underlines yet again the extreme lengths people will go to, risking their lives trying to break into Britain.

"Crossing the English Channel in a small inflatable boat during winter is about as dangerous as it gets.

"We know more migrants are returning to Calais following recent comments by President Macron.

"This is why we must be more vigilant than ever and protect our borders."