"It's utter nonsense." That's the chairman of the Kent Police Federation's view on the role of the UK's new border agency.

Speaking ahead of day two at the Police Federation of England and Wales's annual conference in Bournemouth, Ian Pointon argued that having no police officers within the new agency, which was launched last month, made no sense.

Some staff within the agency do have "police-like powers" to search and detain individuals at the borders, but Mr Pointon said this is not enough for dealing with the broader aspects of cross-border crime.

He said: "It's not just about illegal entries - it's about people and drug trafficking, and money laundering. We can bring a whole host of skills and abilities that other agencies won't have.

"Border issues are of great interest to Kent. It needs to be properly controlled. We can't just have people sticking their heads in the sand. There are huge costs involved with it. You have to provide hard cash when you get mass migration as they are going to be extra difficulties, which are not there with the indigenous population."

Ashford MP and shadow immigration minister Damian Green is similarly concerned with the new agency.

He said: "What we need is a border police force that has officers within it because without that we get a separation between the police and the border agency and it won't be as effective as it should be in protecting our borders."

A spokesman from the UK Border Agency says despite not having police officers within the organisation it did work very closely with the police.

The role of the agency and how it can be effective is being addressed at the conference this afternoon.