WATCH: Motorway driver helps police pick up migrants walking 100 miles to Midlands
A quick-thinking driver from Wolverhampton helped police round up one of a group of suspected illegal immigrants intent on walking 100 miles of motorway to the West Midlands.
Former special constable Ashley Mason, from Bushbury, pulled over when he saw a man wandering along the hard shoulder of the M40.
The 34-year-old self-employed engineer offered him the front seat of his Vauxhall Frontera before flagging down police officers who were searching for a group who allegedly jumped off the back of a lorry in Buckinghamshire.
The man - who told police he hadn’t had a drink of water in two days - was detained along with seven other Sudanese and Eritreans discovered along the stretch of the motorway in Buckinghamshire.
WATCH the dash-cam footage:
"He got in my car and I asked him to put his seat belt on and found out where he was going," said Mr Mason, who attended Cannock Chase High School.
"I made out I was helping him by getting a map out and talking about his destination, which was Birmingham.
"I had sympathy in a way, this man was stopped just 100 miles from the end of his journey which must have been thousands of miles."
Mr Mason was travelling from a job in London to Caerphilly at the time of the incident and his suspicions were first aroused when he saw a lorry and three police cars pulled over on the slip road at junction five for High Wycombe.
A mile later, he spotted the man walking in the hard shoulder just before junction six for Princes Risborough and turned off.
He said: "I called police and they believed the man was wanted by officers who had been at the lorry.
"I then rejoined the motorway and when I saw him again in front of me I pulled over and beeped my horn.
"He turned around and came back to me before getting in the car.
"I asked him to put his seatbelt on and talked to him about his journey, where he was going and got the map out for him.
"It was a stalling tactic to keep him calm. I then flagged them down and the officers detained the guy."
He added: "He showed great calmness, even when he saw the police, he seemed grateful if anything.
"I heard him tell officers he had not had a drink of water for two days. I felt quite sorry for him, really. But at the same time, I knew the right thing to do."
The eight men detained by Thames Valley Police on July 4 and were passed on to the Home Office who are investigating their cases.
