The M-25 London Orbital Motorway was closed yesterday afternoon as a group of illegal immigrants jumped out the back of a lorry and ran down the carriageway.
Surrey police had to close the 117-mile motorway, which in places is 12 lanes wide and one of Britain’s busiest roads, as they pursued the men with dog teams and helicopters near Cobham. Police reports initially suggested there were four men on the run, a figure later revised to seven. Six men were eventually detained on suspicion of illegal entry to the United Kingdom reports the Evening Standard.
Drivers and passengers on the gridlocked road left their cars to escape the heat on one of the warmest days of the year before police cleared the road and allowed traffic to proceed again. Police pilots even took to twitter to share images of the traffic:
09/07 1320hrs #Cobham #M25 4x potential illegal immigrants located by NPAS15 Detained by @SurreyRoadCops ^SH pic.twitter.com/QJOiZilsOX
— NPAS Redhill (@NPASRedhill) July 9, 2015
The incident compounded an already chaotic day on London’s roads, as many more buses, taxis, and private cars ventured out to relieve the striking London Underground. Migrants have disrupted British transport infrastructure on a number of occasions in the past couple of weeks, mainly by attempting to cross the English Channel by the Euro Tunnel from France, either by walking the tracks through the 30 mile tunnel, or by jumping onto moving freight trains.
The Euro Tunnel operator told Breitbart London this week that the company was already spending ten million pounds a year on new security measures to protect their sites from incursion from illegals, but there was ultimately only so much that could be done, and European governments must now take responsibility to stop migrants before they even reach Europe. A spokesman told Breitbart London:
“The problem of migrants around Calais is increasing dramatically. It went from some 600 migrants at the start of the year to some 3,000 plus presently. Their sole intention is to get to the United Kingdom by any means possible, and this is leading them to make some very dangerous decisions.
“…we are confronted with a migrant issue that is growing out of all proportion. The solution to this issue can’t be found by building another fence – it is about stopping the flow of migrants from their country of origin… all of the things that will stop this crises are well out of the hands of a private transport operator… they are in the hands of the British, French, and European governments, who need to find a solution”.
The M20 in Kent has been particularly badly affected by the tunnel jumping illegals, as it is the main road taking road freight to the Eurotunnel shuttle terminal in Folkestone. Kent police have been forced to initiate Operation ‘Stack’ – effectively turning the motorway into a massive, stationary, car-park for lorries backed up and waiting for delayed trains.
Follow Oliver Lane on Twitter: Follow @Oliver_Lane or e-mail to: olane@breitbart.com
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