Hauliers warned to step up security over illegal immigrant risk
Haulage companies across the West Midlands are being advised to step up the security of their vehicles because of increasing numbers of illegal immigrants trying to get into the UK.
There have been a number of cases where suspected stowaways have been found in the region and company bosses working in the area say they have heard stories of gangs made up of dozens of people mobbing vehicles at the port of Calais.
The three, two aged 33 and a 27-year-old, are now being held on suspicion of immigration offences after apparently boarding the lorry in Calais and are being dealt with by the UK Border Force.
Another African man was found hiding behind the air spoiler of a lorry on the same motorway near Great Barr on August 27 and on June 11 another suspected illegal immigrant was found hiding under a bus at junction 10.
The Road Haulage Association has advised hauliers to make sure freight trailers are padlocked at Calais as a security measure and to carry out checks before accepting them.
There have been reports of groups of up to 1,500 migrants living in makeshift camps near Calais desperate to get into the UK.
James Williams, a director of Eurofreight, Coombs Wood, Halesowen, said some hauliers were avoiding using Calais and using the Channel Tunnel or other ports instead.
Mr Williams said that the UK Border Force should be carrying out proper checks on all lorries coming from Calais.
He said it was unfair that hauliers could be fined for unknowingly bringing in illegal immigrants who in some cases were tying themselves on underneath vehicles.
"We sub-contract out for loads. In most cases a UK haulier takes the trailer to Calais and it is picked up there by a European haulier and for loads coming in a UK driver picks up the trailer at Calais. The stowaways have often got on before the trailer is picked up.
"Some of the hauliers we contract to have had problems with people stowing away," added Mr Williams.
Brian Hinks, owner of Hinks Haulage Logistics, Oldbury, said he had heard of gangs of 30 to 40 mobbing vehicles near Calais.
"It is not a good situation at Calais at the moment," he added.
"Fortunately we have not had anyone found hiding on any of the lorries we sub-contract," he said.
The Government is considering sending steel security fences supplied by Wolverhampton firm Zaun fencing for the NATO conference in South Wales to Calais to help protect lorry drivers and tourists from the desperate migrants
Zaun's technical director, Alistair Henman, was asked to talk to security chiefs in Calais about how the company, based in Steel Drive, Bushbury, could help. Its fencing would be used to create a fenced off area, manned by police, where tourists and lorry drivers would wait without being hassled by migrants trying to reach the UK.
