Unwitting traffickers

SIR – A friend arrived back from France recently with a vintage Rolls-royce in tow – and very nearly with five illegal immigrants.

He had put a tarpaulin over the car overnight near Calais, but noticed the next day that the cover had moved, and that a door was not shut properly. On inspection, he found the immigrants tucked up inside on the floor. He hauled one of them out by his legs. The others followed, and ran off.

Not one customs officer inspected my friend’s car going through customs, presumably because it was raining. We still need to toughen up on border controls. Charles Leith

Fordingbridge, Hampshire