Protest leads to stowaway search
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• Drivers on a Seafrance ferry from Calais to Dover refused to disembark until immigration and police officers had checked their trucks after a group of people were spotted on the car deck.
The incident happened on the 07:00hrs sailing last Wednesday. Driver Nigel Cryer who works for Strpark, Leeds-based Gordon Jackson Trucks, was en route from Paris to Bradford when he noticed the immigrants. Cryer's boss Gordon Jackson says: "There were only about 10 of them in total and they all decided to stay put."
Immigration and police officers were called to the scene and eight illegal immigrants were detained. Jackson adds: "Immigration officials keep fobbing us off and telling us that immigrants are not getting on to the trucks on the ferries. This proves they are wrong."
The drivers' action highlights the fears faced by even the most scrupulous hauliers who adhere to the Immigration and Asylum Code of Practice. Road Haulage Association chief executive Roger King says: "On-board checking seems to be an obvious answer. It is a pity the government does not initiate it."