Moment seven migrants are found hiding in back of a lorry as people traffickers turn away from small boats in favour of HGVs to get into UK

This is the moment seven migrants are discovered hiding in the back of a lorry as traffickers begin to favour smuggling people via lorries instead of small boats. 

In the video, police surround the rear of a yellow lorry parked at around 3.25pm on Britannia Road in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, on Thursday. 

A man wearing a high-vis orange vest opens the doors as officers repeatedly ask members of the public to stop filming the incident. 

One bystander could be heard muttering, 'What is going on?', before men, believed to be migrants, begin crawling from the vehicle.

Men, wearing tracksuits and hooded jackets, can be seen clambering down from a height within the lorry as officers wait for them to reach the ground. 

Hertfordshire Police has since confirmed seven people were found in the lorry and later detained. 

The driver, a man in his 30s, has been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry.' 

It comes as security sources say there has been an increase in migrants setting their sights on lorries and other vehicles instead of small boats in a bid to reach the UK. 

Some are trying to jump into moving lorries or even slice through roofs of vehicles in a bid to get to Britain undetected. 

Men, believed to be migrants and wearing tracksuits and hooded jackets, can be seen clambering down from a height within the lorry as officers wait for them to reach the ground

Hertfordshire Police has since confirmed seven people were found in the lorry and later detained

It comes as more beach patrols, coupled with bad weather, have seen a 45 per cent reduction in those arriving by small boat compared to this time last year. 

However, recent figures also indicate more than 200,000 migrants have arrived in the UK via the English Channel since 2018. 

In 2025, 5,874 vehicle-borne stowaways were detected by authorities in French ports, rising from 4,794 in 2023, according to the BBC. 

Border Force relied on intelligence-led screening rather than every single vehicle entering the UK being checked manually.  

A source told GB News: 'Despite the understandable focus on the boats crisis, attempts by migrants to board UK-bound lorries and other vehicles has never gone away.

'It's not the major crisis it was almost a decade ago before the smugglers switched much of their attention to the use of dinghies, but it remains a persistent problem.'

Another insider said it is not known how many illegal migrants make it to British shores.  

If undetected both in France and on arrival to the UK, they will likely 'exit the vehicle at some point and disappear off undetected by the authorities,' they added.

'And we can only know what we know; if they slip through, we've no idea how many might have managed that.'

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.'