David Malcolm, Transport Manager of Dumfries-based Hayden Chilled Ltd, revealed earlier today that his haulage company had become the latest victim of a migrant break-in in North France.
Writing on Facebook in reaction to a report about the incident in the Daily Mail, Mr Malcolm said:
“Yesterday we had some illegal immigrants break into one of our trailers in Calais. This truck was on route back in from Europe with half a load of produce on . The alarm was raised to the driver whilst traveling around the M25 as he could he noise from the trailer. The driver then pulled off the road and sought help from the Police and Border Force. He wasn’t swooped in on like the Daily Mail stated.
I would like to thank Hertfordshire Police and Border Force for their fast response and common sense approach to a hazard all European hauliers face daily whilst crossing the channel back to the UK.
Driver released without charge .
We are not involved in Human Trafficking.
Special thanks to the Daily Mail , hopefully we will deal with you later.”
Regarding the incident, a spokesperson for Herts Police told Herts Live:
“On the afternoon of Tuesday 20 December, police were made aware that a number of people were travelling inside the back of a lorry. The lorry was located and stopped in Potters Bar. Nine people were subsequently discovered inside. The individuals were checked over by the ambulance service to ensure their welfare, before being detained. A man was also arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry and has been released while enquiries continue. The lorry was recovered. Police are liaising with the immigration service as part of ongoing investigations.”
As Mr Malcolm highlighted in his statement, migrant break ins are a danger hauliers travelling in and out of Calais are very aware of. The problem can impact hauliers massively in the form of legal costs, stress, and huge fines.
Last year, Templar European Logistics, which is registered in Poland but owned by Englishman Matthew Garnett, told of how it had received a £4,000 fine from UK Border Force after 5 migrants had managed to sneak onboard one of its trailers bound for the UK. The company maintains its trailer had been secured and that C02 checks at Calais had found nothing untoward.
The stakes could soon be even higher for hauliers, as the Home Office have been working on amendments to the Nationality and Borders Bill that could result in hauliers being fined £2,000 for every illegal migrant found in their lorry – even if they have done full security checks.
It nonetheless remains to be seen if the new Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, will finalise those plans, which had been proposed under her predecessor, Priti Patel.
Photo: Ben Sutherland / Flickr / CC BY 2.0