Seven migrants have been found concealed inside a lorry in Hertfordshire, amid warnings that people-smuggling gangs may be increasingly turning to trucks and other vehicles rather than small boats to reach the UK.
Footage shows police surrounding the back of a yellow lorry on Britannia Road in Waltham Cross at approximately 3.25pm on Thursday.
A man in an orange high-visibility jacket opened the vehicle’s rear doors while officers repeatedly urged members of the public not to record what was happening.
As one onlooker was heard asking, “What is going on?”, several men, believed to be migrants, began emerging from inside the lorry.
Dressed in hooded tracksuits, they lowered themselves from the elevated interior of the vehicle as police waited for each person to climb down safely.
Hertfordshire Police later confirmed that seven people had been discovered inside the lorry and detained.
The lorry driver, a man in his 30s, was arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry into the UK.
The discovery comes amid claims from security sources that more migrants are attempting to hide in lorries and other vehicles as an alternative to crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Some are reportedly trying to climb aboard moving lorries, while others have been cutting through vehicle roofs in attempts to enter Britain without being detected.
The men, believed to be migrants, wore hooded tracksuits as they climbed down from the lorry while officers waited below
Police confirmed that seven people were found inside the lorry and subsequently detained
The reported shift in tactics follows a 45 per cent fall in small-boat arrivals compared with the same period last year, with increased beach patrols and poor weather cited as contributing factors.
Despite the decrease, recent figures indicate that more than 200,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK since 2018.
Authorities detected 5,874 people concealed in vehicles at French ports in 2025, up from 4,794 in 2023, according to the BBC.
Rather than physically inspecting every vehicle entering the country, Border Force used intelligence-led checks to identify potential stowaways.
A source told GB News: “Although public attention has understandably centred on the small-boats crisis, attempts to board UK-bound lorries and other vehicles have never disappeared.
“The issue is not on the scale seen almost a decade ago, before people-smuggling gangs shifted much of their focus towards dinghies, but it remains a continuing concern.”
A second insider said it was impossible to establish how many people may have successfully reached Britain after hiding in vehicles.
They said those who avoid detection in France and after arriving in the UK could eventually leave the vehicle and vanish without coming to the attention of authorities.
“We can only record the cases we uncover,” the insider added. “If people get through undetected, there is no way of knowing how many may have succeeded.”
Last May, figures showed more than 200,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since 2018.
Just over a third of this number arrived since Labour took power in July 2024, according to analysis of government data.
The remaining two-thirds made the journey under the Conservative governments of the previous four prime ministers.
That data is based on official statistics from 2018 to 2025 and provisional figures recorded so far this year.
Successive governments have tried to work with France to disrupt crossings and have revised asylum rules to deter migrants.
In April, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year agreement with French authorities to pay £662million to support beach patrols.
Ms Mahmood is seeking to overhaul the asylum system to deter crossings and deport people more easily, including proposed changes to make refugee status temporary.
Under the current Labour government, ministers scrapped the Conservatives’ multimillion-pound deal to send migrants who crossed the Channel from France to Rwanda. Just four volunteers were sent before the policy was ditched.
But the move has prompted a legal battle with the East African nation seeking to sue Britain for more than £100million claiming it has breached the terms of the agreement and is owed money – something lawyers for the UK deny.
A police spokesperson said: ‘Police were contacted at around 3.25pm on Thursday 17 September to report concerns about a lorry in Britannia Road, Waltham Cross.’
‘Officers attended the scene and seven people were located inside.
‘All seven have been detained.
‘The driver of the lorry, a man aged in his 30s, has been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry.
‘Officers are working closely with the immigration service.’
Our News Outlet has approached the Home Office for comment.
