UK Border Agency stopsPembroke-bound illegal immigrants (From Western Telegraph)

UK Border Agency stopsPembroke-bound illegal immigrants

8:50am Sunday 10th May 2009 in

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UK Border Agency officers have thwarted an attempt by two Iranian illegal immigrants to smuggle themselves into the UK on a lorry bound for Pembroke.

The Polish-registered truck was waiting to board the Eurotunnel freight train service at Coquelles in Northern France, before heading to Pembroke, carrying a load of mixed items for delivery.

When UK Border Agency officers based in France searched the vehicle with heartbeat detection equipment, the reading indicated there were people on board. Two Iranian men were then found hiding in the vehicle.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “We have hundreds of UK Border Agency officers based at ports in France and Belgium, carrying out checks to stop illegal immigrants before they get to the UK.

“As well as heartbeat detectors, which helped us find these would-be illegal entrants, we also use carbon dioxide detectors and sniffer dogs to find stowaways trying to get into the UK illegally.”

The would-be illegal immigrants were fingerprinted, photographed, refused entry to the UK and then handed over to the French police before the lorry was allowed to continue its journey to the UK.