UPDATED:

Home Office officials have confirmed a boat found washed up was involved in a previous incident and there have been no casualties.

Crews from a Border Force cutter and the Coastguard were today seen investigating the circumstance surrounding a suspected migrant boat found washed on the beach in Old Felixstowe.

The Felixstowe Coastguard was called to an incident on Boxing Day and Border Force officials were understood to have discovered life preservers, and other items this morning.

Although it is relatively unusual to find salaam seeking boats off the Suffolk coast the Border Force is aware incidents do occur and it is not unknown for incidents offshore to be dealt with and then remnants of potential people smuggling subsequently dealt with.

Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove MP, said "Seeking asylum for protection should not involve people asylum shopping country to country or risking their lives by lining the pockets of criminal gangs to cross the Channel. They should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

"This Government is reforming our approach to illegal entry in the UK and asylum by making the tough decisions to end the overt exploitation of our laws and abuse of UK taxpayers. The public have been crying out for reform for two decades and that's what this Government is delivering through our New Plan for Immigration.

"The Nationality and Borders Bill will make it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introduce life sentences for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.

"It will also strengthen the powers of Border Force to stop and redirect vessels, while introducing new powers to remove asylum seekers to have their claims processed outside the UK.

"MPs have already voted to reform this broken and abusive system and the sooner the House of Lords approves the Nationality & Borders Bill, the sooner these reforms will be delivered."

The latest incident comes in the wake of a large scale smuggling operation off the Suffolk coast. which resulted in four men being jailed of trying to bring in 69 Albanian nationals to the UK.

The Svanic - a 30m (98ft) converted fishing trawler - was intercepted off the by Border Force last November and taken to Harwich.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the boat had spent 14 hours at sea from Belgium.

Kfir Ivgi, 32, Sergejs Kuliss, 39, Alexandrs Gulpe, 44, and Igor Koysi, 56, were convicted by a jury.

A fifth man, Volodymyr Mykhailov, was cleared.

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