Men charged after small boat lands on Essex beach

Three men have been charged with people smuggling offences after migrants arrived on the Essex coast by boat.

The vessel "was seen to drop a number of people off at the shoreline" in Holland-on-Sea on Wednesday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Two Polish nationals, aged 25 and 41 and who live in Bradford, were charged with facilitating illegal immigration on Thursday, as was a 45-year-old Italian man.

Each defendant was remanded in custody and was due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Friday.

The Polish men were arrested on the beach, while the Italian was detained a short while later at sea.

Immigration Enforcement has been handling the detention of six others who were onboard the boat.

The NCA said a 57-year-old man from Albania, arrested on suspicion of the same offences as the three others, remained in custody for questioning.

Holland-on-Sea is on the north-east coast of Essex, close to Clacton-on-Sea.

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