Britain can't take in "unlimited numbers" of refugees, but should grant asylum to a few thousand Christians, UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said.

He told BBC Breakfast this morning: ""[If] we have to give some Christians refugee status, given that with Iraq and Libya there's almost nowhere for them to go, then fine but Europe can't send the message that everyone who comes will be accepted.

"If it does then the numbers we are talking about here could literally be millions."

Farage suggested that the UK make a "gesture" by giving refugee status "to a few people – and I'm highlighting the plight of the Christians.

"I would suggest a few thousand, because frankly again, we as a country can't take unlimited numbers of people," he added.

The UKIP leader, who has been keen to defend Britain's "Judeo-Christian culture", said the UK bears "a very heavy responsibility" for the current situation in the Mediterranean. More than 1,700 migrants are believed to have died while attempting to cross the sea to Europe so far this year, fleeing war and deprivation in Libya, which Farage admitted the UK has "destabilised".

However, he made it clear that most of those attempting to start a new life in Europe should be sent back to their homelands.

"I am suggesting they should make sure that those who are coming in vessels which are not seaworthy are put on vessels that are seaworthy and taken back to where they come from," he said, according to politics.co.uk.

He added that he would send some UK vessels to help with the rescue efforts were he in charge, but "the big message has to come from Italy, from Greece".