...and subsequent closure
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• A Derbyshire haulier will be forced to close with the loss of 18 drivers' jobs unless it successfully appeals against a £28,000 fine for being found with illegal immigrants on one of its trucks.
Chapel-en-le-Frith-based SJ Freight says it carried out continual checks for illegal immigrants on 13 May but was still found with 14 on board at Dover.
Transport manager Jack Ford says driver Peter Candlin did all that he could to check his wagon as he crossed the Channel. "He did everything in his power to ensure that his vehicle and trailer did not contain illegal immigrants and he had been unaware of anyone hiding in the trailer," says Ford.
He adds that the truck was carrying a security cord which had been passed through each of the curtain strap buckles.
'After being secured, the trailer was sealed and the seal number recorded on the signed documentation, Although the security cord had the appearance of being intact, it was later discovered that it had been cleanly cut and re-joined. The two cut-ends had been pinned together and the join hidden from view behind one of the buckles," says Ford.
The company maintains it did not breach the 1999 Immigrant and Asylum Act as there was a checking system in place to prevent illegal immigrants concealing themselves and the driver also had no idea that the immigrants were there.
Ford adds: "The haulage sector should not be blamed for the problem of illegal immigrants. The refugee problem is not going to go away and must be dealt with by government, but not by imposing these huge fines on hauliers."