French coastguards have rescued four migrants who were found trying to cross the Channel in an inflatable dinghy.

Rescuers were alerted by a fifth person found on a beach at Sangatte near Calais, suffering from hypothermia, in the early hours of Saturday.

He told officials that the migrants on the dinghy were part of a group that had set off for the UK from Dunkirk.

French police said crossing the Channel was very dangerous because of the large volume of shipping in the area.