Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage claimed there was a “flood” of Albanian men coming to Britain, bringing the immigration system to “breaking point”.

Speaking to Sarah Montague on Radio 4’s World at One about migrants crossing the Channel to enter Britain, Farage claimed the majority were Albanian men “coming to join criminal gangs”, that “hotels are full all over the country” with migrants, and that “anybody that enters the United Kingdom via these means should not be granted refugee status”.

The issue of Britain’s asylum system has come under sharp focus in recent days amid growing concern over the conditions in which migrants are being held while waiting to be processed once they arrive in the UK.

Around 4,000 people are being kept at the Manston facility in Kent, a former airbase that should only have capacity for 1,600 people.

Farage stated that authorities should “use the longest runway in the country to fly every single person who comes from Albania straight back there”, and saying the government needs to “stop the flood” of migrants heading to UK shores.

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Referring to legal migration, Farage said that 1.2 million legal visas were granted last year, then asked: “Is it any wonder we can’t get GP appointments, the roads are full, you can’t get your kids into local schools?”

Farage said that people arriving in Dover were not in need of support, but hoping to join criminal gangs.

He claimed very few were seeking asylum.

“The majority of those coming are coming from Albania,” he said. “Let’s remind ourselves that this is a NATO country. An EU applicant. A holiday destination for a huge number of British people.”

He said there was no “legitimate” reason for anyone from Albania to seek refuge in the UK.