A search and rescue operation is under way in the English Channel after a small plane went missing.

Two people were aboard the light aircraft which is feared to have crashed after taking off from the UK.

The Piper PA-28 was in a group of aircraft which was heading to the northern France resort of Le Touquet on Saturday morning from Stoke-on-Trent.

A French emergency services said: ‘It crashed into British waters for an unknown reason.

‘British Coastguard launched an operation supported by French aircraft and boats including the Abeille-Languedoc (Languedoc Bee) tug, which has been chartered by the French Navy.’

By 8.30pm in France, there was no sign of the occupants of the plane, it has been reported.

Ships in the Channel were also alerted to the disappearance, but by nightfall there was no sign of the plane or any debris.

The missing plane took off from Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon, on Saturday morning, said a spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture in France.

As well as the Abeille Languedoc, the major search involved a French Navy Falcon 50 jet and a Dauphin helicopter.

It has been suspended for the evening but will resume again when it is light.

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