A MAN has been charged with people smuggling offences as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into the cross-Channel transport of migrants using a pleasure boat.

Tony Williams, 58, from Lydford, near Okehampton, has been charged with conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration and assisting illegal immigration.

He is alleged to have used a pleasure craft to transport at least 10 migrants from Normandy in June 2022. 

A number of people were seen running to waiting cars after leaving a boat as it moored at Slapton Sands in Devon.

Williams will next appear at Exeter Crown Court on October 30.

Andy Macgill, from the NCA, said: “This investigation has examined the use of a pleasure boat which we believe was used to cross the Channel and bring people into the UK illegally.

“Tackling organised immigration crime continues to be a priority for the National Crime Agency and we will work with partners in the UK and overseas to target crime groups at every step of the route.”