NEARLY 20 suspected migrants were rescued from the Channel after their inflatable boat began to sink in the early hours of the morning.

The 18 Albanians and two British people on board were taken to Dover where they were interviewed by Border Force officials.

After getting into difficulty, the suspected migrants reportedly alerted their families in Calais, who raised the alarm with the French authorities.

The UK Coastguard received a call for help at 11.40pm on Saturday night and the boat was rescued at 2am, off the coast of Dymchurch, Kent, just east of the Sussex border.

Bernard Barron, president of the French coastguard, said it appeared smugglers had "found a new strategy" to get into the UK and he feared for migrants' safety.

It comes after 17 suspected Albanian migrants and a British man wanted on suspicion of murder in Spain were detained after a catamaran arrived at Chichester Marina on Tuesday.

Councillor Keith Glazier, Conservative leader of East Sussex County Council, said: “We are aware that as border controls become tighter people will do more desperate things and as the weather becomes ‘more favourable’ then people will try and get in through different routes.

“But I am confident that the police and the coastguards and border control have got this under surveillance, and if people end up in Kent then Kent County Council have the responsibility and the experience to deal with it, as in East Sussex.

“They are putting their lives at risk and probably the lives of others so anything we can do to discourage it must be done.

"At local level we need to be able to deal with people if they come into our county, which I am confident that we are.”

Councillor Mary Lawes, Ukip group leader on Shepway District Council, said she was concerned for the security of the region as well as the safety of migrants seeking to cross the Channel in unsafe boats.

She said: "We are not doing enough to control our coastline, the Government has to address border controls, something has to be done to protect these people from harm and our borders."