British swimmer dies while trying to cross the Channel

A British man has died in a French hospital after he fell ill while swimming across the Channel from Dover in southern England, police said.

Nick Thomas, aged in his 40s, was brought into the northern port city of Calais shortly before midnight by a safety boat.

Police said his heart had stopped and he was in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest when the emergency services took him to hospital. 

Despite attempts to revive him, he died shortly before 3am.

In July 2013, a British woman aged in her 30s died in a Boulogne hospital after trying to swim the Channel to raise money for charity.