Lorry carrying ten migrants passed two border checks
TEN illegal immigrants were found squeezed inside a lorry at a motorway service station – after allegedly evading officials at two border checks. The group from Vietnam were apprehended after the driver called police when he heard banging after stopping for a break.
To his amazement, ten people, including two teenagers, were pulled from the back of the truck – even though he said he had been given the all clear after stowaways were found during an earlier search in France.
Footage shot on Friday at Beaconsfield services on the M40 in Buckinghamshire shows the men squeezing through a small gap at the top of the lorry before clambering down a ladder and being met by police.
The driver named Pedro, who is originally from Portugal but now lives in Telford, Shropshire, told how he initially heard banging inside the vehicle in France. A group of stowaways was found during a check in Calais and he was allowed to continue his journey.
Pedro said: ‘I came from Germany and when I got to Calais I felt some movement in the back of the truck. I went to the first checkpoint with the dog and the dog reacted to it. They pulled me aside and put the steps up and checked inside. They took me through the first scanner, checked it again and it was fine – that was the French side done.
‘I got to the UK border side, explained to them and they looked at the paperwork. It was all signed and they put me through another scanner and they said it was all clear.
‘It’s as simple as that – there’s nothing a driver can do really. It’s every week we are having to deal with this sort of thing.
‘[After being] caught in traffic on the M25, I stopped for a break and heard them banging on the back of the door which surprised me because I thought they were all out. They found some in Calais and we got them out but obviously they missed some, I thought it was one but it was ten.’
It is unclear where the illegal immigrants entered Pedro’s lorry. They were referred to the Home Office and to social services.
Describing the difficulties lorry drivers face with migrants, Pedro said: ‘They are relentless, it’s a vicious circle – they go for it and go for it. The police in France got some out and let them go, but all they do is get in the next truck.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Ten people, who presented as being from Vietnam, were referred to the Home Office.
‘Among the ten were two minors who were referred to social services. Where someone has no right to remain in the UK, we will take action to remove them. Immigration Enforcement is an operational directorate within the Home Office responsible for enforcing immigration law.’
Two days earlier, 15 migrants were found in the back of a lorry at Farthing Corner Services on the M2 near Gillingham, Kent.
‘There’s nothing a driver can do’