Children of RNLI lifeboat volunteers are bullied at school because their parents rescue migrants in the English Channel

Children of RNLI lifeboat volunteers have been bullied at school because of their parents' involvement in rescuing migrants in the English Channel.

Volunteers for a lifeboat station in Gosport have been subject to abuse following the arrivals of small boats, which led to lifeboats bringing illegal migrants ashore.

The landings sparked protests in Gosport and Portsmouth.

Allegations of bullying were raised at a Portsmouth City Council debate about recognising the RNLI with the Freedom of the City honour.

A letter to the council said two crew members' children had been targeted at school because their fathers were involved with the charity.

Volunteers said they had been confronted in public, while crew members' names were published online and suspicious vehicles were seen parked near the station.

The volunteers were branded as 'traitors' and some had their details published online. 

Another lifeboat station in Portsmouth was forced to close temporarily due to threats. 

RNLI volunteers have been advised to stop wearing their badges in public to avoid confrontations with anti-migrant protesters. 

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, who proposed the motion alongside Councillor Billy Ansell, told the meeting he was 'deeply concerned about the abuse, intimidation and threats' directed at the RNLI.

He said the council should 'express its unequivocal support' for the charity, which has spent 200 years saving lives at sea.

Councillor Ansell said volunteers responded to emergencies without asking about a person's nationality, religion or politics.

He added that disagreements about immigration and border controls did not justify hostility towards lifeboat crews.

Reform UK councillors sought to amend the motion to remove criticism of descriptions of the RNLI as a 'taxi service' for migrants. The amendment was defeated.

The original motion calling for the RNLI to receive the Freedom of the City honour was passed by 25 votes to 11, with one abstention.

The station's letter said the recognition would provide a 'huge moral boost' to volunteers, while also thanking those who had sent messages of support.

It comes after two RNLI all-weather lifeboats, deployed from the Isle of Wight, landed at Eastney Point on September 6, after picking up 120 migrants who were attempting to cross the Channel from France.

As reports of the boats landing spread, demonstrators flocked to the area to demonstrate against the arrival of the migrants.

Multiple protesters have since been charged with violent disorder as a result of the late-night march, with several police officers treated for injuries at the scene.

Poole Old Lifeboat Museum was also forced to close after several incidents of anti-migrant protesters verbally assaulting their volunteers.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People was forced to issue a statement that they are 'not the lifeboat people' following threats. 

Chief executive Peter Sparkes criticised abusive posters who 'hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard' and said their 'action is wholly unacceptable'.

He added: 'Recent events have generated deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI – our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel. Sadly, as a result, some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in the worst cases, physical abuse.'

The RNLI helped more than 36,000 people across its lifeboat and lifeguard services last year, with crews launching more than 9,000 times to assist those in distress at sea.

RNLI lifeboat crews insist they have a duty to rescue anyone at sea, regardless of who they are.