Telford truck driver's shock over Illegal immigrants wedged into lorry

The vehicle had been checked at two borders before the people, believed to be Vietnamese, were found wedged into tight spaces in the back of the HGV.

The lorry was filled with crates and after the driver stopped for a break he heard banging coming from the back. The driver, called ‘Pedro’, alerted the police and 10 people were found by officers on Friday at Beaconsfield services in Buckinghamshire.

The truck is believed to belong to Dale Brothers in Telford.

The Mirror carried video from the scene:

Pedro, originally from Portugal but now living in Telford, said: “I came from Germany with this load 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.

“I came straight from Folkestone, caught in traffic on the M25 for a little while, 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 apparently it was 10.”

Pedro says that it is a recurring problem for drivers

He added: “They are relentless, it’s a vicious circle - they go for it and go for it.

“The police in France got some of them out and let them go, all they are going to do is get in the next truck.

“The size of them helped them get in the boxes, because I have plastic bins, empties, stacked on top of each other, so its very easy to hide and obviously its clear that they didn’t check them properly.

“It is what it is, there’s not much the driver can do in this situation.Luckily the fridge was off however I have heard even if the fridge is on at-25 they still go for it.

“It needs a lot of courage to do something like that. I was surprised after all the checks there was still some left.

“I got the all-clear, stamp after stamp, second control, third control, the dogs.

“There’s nothing the driver can do, nothing else. You do your checks but what can you do.”

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Immigration Enforcement was contacted by Thames Valley Police on the evening of Friday October 27 after police officers attended an incident at Beaconsfield Services at Junction 2 of the M40.

“Ten people, who presented themselves as being from Vietnam, were referred to the Home Office and their cases will now be progressed according to the immigration rules.

“Among the 10 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.’