Cops find 18 “illegal immigrants” in lorry on M1

The vehicle was stopped by police after a passing motorist grew suspicious and called 999 while driving on the M25 in Hertfordshire yesterday.

Nineteen suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested after a lorry was stopped on the M1 in Hertfordshire.

All 18 of those on board the lorry have been taken into custody “for their safety”.

Traffic police tweeted a picture of the migrants sitting on the ground next to a parked lorry loaded with cargo, apparently at a motorway service station.

Local police say that they are understood to be of Vietnamese nationality.

The driver then followed the lorry onto the M1 junction 9 near St Albans before it is claimed police caught up with them.

They were arrested on suspicion of illegal entry to the UK and the driver was held for assisting entry, Bedfordshire, Cambridge and Hertfordshire Road Policing said.

A spike in the number of migrants trying to cross the Channel Tunnel from France to Britain has pushed the issue to the top of the political agenda.

The suspected illegal immigrants have now been detained in custody as a precautionary measure to protect their safety.

The authorities have recently moved to tighten up security at the port, but critics insist they will be unable to stem the flow of migrants from war zones and dictatorships such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea.