Stowaway’s 4 days under camper van
A FAMILY arrived home from a foreign holiday to discover a Sudanese stowaway had hidden under their luxury motorhome for four days.
Lisa and Mick Patterson were about to start unpacking the vehicle when their son spotted a man walking away.
When they confronted him he admitted he had secretly hitched a lift through French and British customs.
They believe he hid under the £35,000 motorhome in a campsite in Caen, northern France, for three days before balancing on the axle as they went home via Calais.
The 6ft youth, believed to be 17, was arrested by police and is now being dealt with by Home Office officials.
Mrs Patterson, 50, of Great Horkesley, Essex, said: ‘He was a really nice person from the English he spoke.
‘I asked him where he had been and he showed me. He had been balancing across the back axle. We asked him how long he had been under there and he held up his fingers and said, “Four”. We said, “Four hours?” and he said, “No, days”.’
Mrs Patterson and her farm manager husband Mick, also 50, were on holiday with their student daughter Summer, 17. The stowaway emerged from under their 25ftlong motorhome when the family returned earlier this month.
He was offered a packet of Mini Cheddars and a bottle of Orangina and happily waited for police to arrive. He would have spent the best part of a day in the 3ft gap above the rear axle of the vehicle. The drive from Caen to Calais is three-and-a-half hours, while the time spent on the ferry and in both ports would have been around twoand-a-half hours. After reaching Dover, the Pattersons spent more than two hours driving non-stop to their home.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: ‘Immigration Enforcement was contacted by Essex Police. A male who claimed to be from Sudan was arrested for immigration offences.
‘He was age-assessed as a minor and passed into the care of social services.
‘His case will be progressed in accordance with immigration rules.’