Child asylum seekers say UK officials pressed them to lie about their age

A group of people are brought to shore in Dungeness, Kent, after being rescued from their small boat in the Channel on 12 October. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Child asylum seekers who have recently arrived in the UK on small boats say screening officials have put pressure on them to say they are adults, the Guardian has been told.

In some cases, the children say they were told that if they said they were over 18 they would be able to leave the troubled asylum processing site of Manston in Kent more quickly.