Polish man was stopped by officials in France on his way to the UK

A driver has been jailed for trying to smuggle seven illegal immigrants into the UK who were destined for an address in Wembley.

The Polish man hid the four men, woman and two children, all from Sri Lanka, in a purpose built hide inside his van at a port in Calais in France, last week.

But he was sprung when French officials carried out a heart beat detector check on his van which showed a positive reading.

The vehicle was thoroughly searched and the seven people were discovered.

Deliver documents found inside the vehicle showed their destination was an address in Wembley.

The driver was sentenced to four months for the facilitation of people smuggling.

All seven will be deported.

Paul Morgan, Border Force Director for South East & Europe, said: “Those involved in people smuggling pray on the desperation of others in order to line their own pockets and are a major factor in illegal immigration to the UK.

“This incident shows why we base Border Force staff in France - to stop would-be illegal immigrants before they can reach the UK and to target those engaged in people smuggling.”