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30 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants held in London

After a 100km highway chase, police in London took into custody 30 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants from the back of a lorry and arrested the lorry driver on charges of smuggling them in, police said on Monday.

The driver, Julian Lee, a 26-year-old supermarket stock controller, drove off after allegedly refusing to stop for immigration officers at the cross-channel ferry port in Dover in the early hours on Saturday.

He was pursued for more than an hour by eight police cars as he drove at up to 80 kmph along the highway towards London.

He was finally forced into a ditch near Cuxton, Kent, where police found 30 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh hidden in his lorry.

The British home office said one of the Bangladeshis was claiming political asylum. Six others had returned to France and a further 23 were due to be taken to France on Monday. Officials there will then decide whether to send them back to Bangladesh.

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