Motorists are keener to shop stowaway-carrying truckers
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• Kent police say motorists seem far more willing to report truck drivers for carrying stowaways since the £2,0D0-ahead fines were introduced last April.
On one day last week (6 February) 79 illegal immigrants were caught in the county, including eight in a Dutch truck after several motorists spotted two of them leaning out of the back of the vehicle and called 999. A police spokeswoman says increasing use of mobile phones and more awareness of illegal immigration helps to explain why more calls are being made.
"Anyone who regularly uses the M20 will have seen lorries that have stopped there and people standing by the side of the road," she adds. "Before, motorists may have felt there was no point in ringing in. I can only speculate and guess that because there is some punishment being dealt out, there is more reason to report it now."
Most of the 79 illegal immigrants caught in Kent entered the UK through Dover. Ten from eastern Europe were found in a lorry after the driver heard noises there and alerted police. Eight Iraqi men were detained at the Channel Tunnel at Cheriton having boarded a train in France.