London: An illegal immigrant is on the run after smuggling himself into Britain underneath a coach full of Border Agency officers returning from France.
The immigration officers, whose job ironically is to stop illegal immigrants entering the country, were oblivious to the stowaway hiding between the fuel tank and the chassis of the coach until they arrived at their depot in Folkestone.
The unnamed man then made his break for freedom, the coach driver gave a chase but failed to catch him.
A Home Office spokeswoman admitted that "an illegal entrant entered UK by hiding underneath a coach returning from France.
"The coach was contracted by the UK Border Agency. This is further evidence of the extreme and dangerous illegal measures that are being taken to enter the UK.
"We will continue to work closely with the French authorities, travel industry and port operators to protect the UK borders to combat illegal immigration," she said.
She said that the unidentified man is still at large. "He was able to abscond. Local police are carrying out an intensive search and we are continuing to try to identify him and hope to apprehend him as soon as possible.
"Further security improvements will now be put in place and a full investigation is being conducted," she added.
New figures published this week revealed that the number of migrants arrested after hiding in the backs of lorries and vans nearly doubled in the first half of this year - up to 13,715 compared to 7,760 in the corresponding period last year.