Cut free by firemen, eleven migrants found sealed inside lorry outside a Wiltshire cafe
ELEVEN suspected illegal immigrants, including six children, were found squeezed into the back of a lorry that had its lock glued shut.
Firefighters had to use an industrial disc cutter to free the ten Iraqis and one Afghan.
Onlookers said the lock on the rear door of the lorry had apparently been damaged by force and could also have been superglued.
Firefighters were called by diners at a roadside cafe who heard banging and shouting coming from a lorry that had stopped in a lay-by on the A303 near Warminster, Wiltshire.
Police removed the migrants from the lorry, which was transporting Belgian chocolates, and they were given medical assessments on Saturday afternoon.
They were deemed fit to be held on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.
It is not known what action is being taken against the driver. He had tried to open the lock to the back of the truck with police but could not because it was damaged.
He had been returning to Taunton in Somerset from Belgium and had reportedly stopped for lunch at the café.
Dave Thomas, owner of the Willoughby Hedge cafe, said: ‘A couple of the drivers come in every Saturday just after lunch, coming back from the continent, and once we were told of the banging, they went straight away to the back of the lorry to try and open the doors, but to no avail.
‘We all knew straight away what the banging and shouting was. It has happened here twice before in the past 15 years. Police were soon there, as were the fire brigade, but then they had to wait for a special disc cutter to get the padlocks off.’ He added: ‘It seemed they had been damaged by both glue and force and could not be opened – this is a typical ruse by the gangs that organise people into the country. ‘They get them into the lorry, replace the locks and then damage and superglue them so they cannot be opened.’ Mr Thomas said one of the migrants spoke English and after telling police how many there were, officers organised three ambulances. He added: ‘They seemed to have been very lucky as this trailer was a refrigerated unit, but the section that they and the chocolate were in was at normal temperature.’
A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: ‘As a welfare concern, all of the group were individually medically assessed at the scene by paramedics and then deemed fit to be held by the police for illegally entering the UK.
‘The lorry had come in from mainland Europe overnight and the matter will now be handed over to our colleagues from the Home Office immigration department to deal with in conjunction with assistance from the police and child services.’
The Home Office confirmed that officers from its Immigration Enforcement division were called to the A303.
A spokesman said: ‘Where someone has no right to remain in the UK, we will take action to remove them.’
Hauliers or their employers face a fine of up to £2,000 per stowaway where reasonable measures were not taken to secure and check vehicles.
Some 3,522 penalties have been given out in the past 12 months – an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year.