THE fears raised by Dorset’s independent PCC about port border controls have been mirrored by a Conservative MP.

Chris Chope, who represents Christchurch, told the Daily Echo that he “goes along” with Martyn Underhill’s comments expressing concern for the reduction in Border Force Cutters, as well as the imminent loss of the UK’s maritime surveillance capability.

He said that smugglers are increasingly using high-speed boats to cross the English Channel and that “as an island” the UK should look to its port security first.

He said that Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, a former security minister and chairman of the British Joint Intelligence Committee, has also raised concerns about maritime port security.

“If she is worried then that is a real cause for concern,” he said, adding that he is also concerned about migrants arriving from camps in Calais.

“We don’t know who has been getting across to the UK,” he said. “We seem incapable of stopping them.”