Constituency profile: Dover

IT had to be a pub. And it had to be the famous White Cliffs. Nigel Farage was holding court in Ukip's prime target area of Dover.

Intentionally, the party leader chose the "gateway to Europe", the part of England nearest France, to launch Ukip's latest poster campaign on its number one issue - immigration.

France is so near, around 20 miles, that it is clearly visible across the water as ferries speed to and fro; indeed such is the proximity to the French coast the mobile telephone companies alert you that you are now in France.

Mr Farage, the area's MEP, is at the Coastguard Pub, a quaint, elevated watering hole just a few yards from where Noel Coward and Ian Fleming once had homes, and is waxing lyrical about the dangers of mass immigration.

The Tories, he insists, have been "wilfully dishonest" and the only way for Britain to get control of its borders is to leave the EU. He craves "normality" stretching back to the 1950s when net migration was somewhere between 15,000 and 50,000 a year; when Britain was at ease with itself.

The Ukip leader claims that if a referendum voted Yes to leave the Brussels bloc, then by around 2018 net migration would tumble from the current 300,000 a year to just 30,000; a 90 per cent drop.

"We are the only people who will tell the truth," he declares to the media horde and then adds: "By the way, we are not being negative about this subject; far from it. Once we have re-established border controls, putting into place an Australian-style points system would give us the ability to control the quantity and quality of who comes to Britain."

Among the Farage supporters is Ukip's Dover candidate David Little, a 52-year-old local publisher, who is hoping to oust incumbent Tory Charlie Elphicke, 44, whose house, incidentally, overlooks the Coastguard Pub.

Away from the media circus, Dover itself is dominated by its imposing castle but down below the town itself is less impressive.

On a blustery, morning the High Street is conspicuously quiet. It contains the names you would expect of any British shopping precinct Boots, Argos, Greggs, etc but there are lots of empty, grey shops, many of which, according to locals, have been closed for some considerable time.

"It's very depressed," says Bill Woods, a retired plumber, who has lived in the area all his life. Sitting outside the Prince Albert pub, the 67-year-old says: "It used to be quite a bustling place 20 years or so ago but now there are no jobs or the ones there are have been taken up by the immigrants." He pauses and adds: "Only Ukip is listening."

Talk to anyone on the town's streets and it is not long before the i-word is mentioned.

At Bob's mobile burger bar in the High St, Matthew Berchenough, a 34-year-old father-of-two, is frying up bacon and eggs.

"It's dead," he declares. "It's 10am and look at it. There's nobody around. I used to work as a stevedore in Dover docks but I lost my job to a Pole. I worked as a taxi driver and in a pub and now I do this. There are no jobs anymore. We've had enough."

He insists Ukip will definitely win in Dover but has doubts about whether he will personally support them on May 7. "I voted for them in the Euros but I'm not sure at the election. They're joining up with the Tories."

Mr Berchenough admits immigration is the major issue on everyone's lips. "The public are p****d off with them. Some of them are unemployed but drive around in flash cars. It really p****s people off."

By and large, "they" are migrant workers from the Balkans; Kosovans and Albanians, who came to Dover 10 years or so ago and have taken over the cheap labouring jobs.

Wayne Hayes, a 42-year-old motorway maintenance manager, also complains about how foreigners can simply turn up and claim benefits. "I work six days a week and pay £400 a week in tax and National Insurance and what do I get? I get my bins emptied. That's it. Someone has to have the guts to do something. Everything is going to the immigrants."

Asked if Ukip will win Dover, he replies: "I hope so."

Interestingly, official statistics from a 2014 report shows 7.3 per cent of Dover's population were not born in the UK. Some 3871 people or 3.4 per cent were born in Europe and 4296 people or 3.8 per cent were born in countries outside Europe.

Of the town's migrant population, 44 per cent are aged under 17; the average percentage across England is 33 per cent.

Walking down to Market Street the sound of foreign voices is apparent as men of eastern European appearance scurry by in groups of twos and threes.

Nearby, a street seller of windows, who declined to be named, insists he is no lover of Ukip but admits Mr Farage is the only politician who has highlighted the issue of immigration. "I travel around the area and it's the same in Thanet(the neighbouring seat the Ukip leader is standing in).

"He and Charlie Elphicke were here the other day. Elphicke just came in, did a photo shoot and left. He didn't talk to anyone. But then Farage came and stayed and chatted to everybody. He's winning people over that way."