UK accused of abandoning 38 people adrift in Channel

The union says French coastguards were told by the UK Border Force that its Typhoon vessel had no space to pick people up. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

British Channel rescue services have been accused of abandoning 38 people in distress in a dinghy in UK waters, putting their lives in grave danger.

French coastguards from the union Solidaires Douanes claim UK services told them they would begin a rescue effort but then failed to do so, allowing them to drift back into the French part of the Channel.