As many as 25 migrants intercepted in English Channel

There has been a surge in people attempting to cross to the UK in small boats

Large boats frequently traverse the English Channel. AFP

As many as 25 suspected migrants, including eight children, have been rescued off the coast of Dover in Kent, UK.

According to fisherman David Catt, who witnessed the incident on Sunday, “some of them couldn't have been more than two years old”.

"It's a nice sunny day and conditions are calm, so it would have been a good time to make the crossing. But it's still very cold out there and the poor children were soaked through and so cold," he told Sky News.

The migrants were in two boats. It is currently unclear what country they are from.

"After the lifeboat picked them up we were heading back out to go fishing and we saw another small vessel with about 10 to 12 men in it heading in the direction of Folkestone."

It comes only a day after 16 people were stopped in the English Channel trying to cross to the UK. Reports said they were believed to be from Iran or Iraq.

Last year home secretary Sajid Javid declared that the rising numbers of migrants trying to cross the English Channel was a “major incident”.

Authorities regularly intercept small, often inflatable boats bound for the UK.

Charlie Elphicke, MP for Dover, said British and French authorities ”need urgently to get a grip on the situation”.