TWO Albanian illegal immigrants have been found trying to enter Britain in the back of a lorry heading for East Lancashire.

The men, aged 29 and 30, were discovered hiding in a lorry at Portsmouth ferry port.

Border Force officers caught the pair sitting between a load of stone being carried by a lorry which had just arrived on a ferry from Caen on Wednesday. The vehicle had been destined for an address in Blackburn, officers said.

The ferry operator alerted the Border Force after the two men were seen running around the port of Caen before the vessel departed. When the boat arrived at Portsmouth, the lorry was searched by Border Force officers.

The men had cut through the lorry trailer’s canvas roof and neatly sewn up the gap in an attempt to evade detection. Andy Lumb, of Border Force at Portsmouth, said: “This incident shows the lengths some would-be illegal entrants will go to in a bid to reach the UK.

“Clearly these two men thought they had covered their tracks but were found thanks to the assistance of the ferry operator and determination of Border Force officers.

“We are at the forefront of the fight to stop illegal immigrants, drugs, weapons and other contraband entering the UK and our officers are on constant alert to keep them out of the country.”

Both men were removed from the UK at around 10pm on Wednesday, Border chiefs said.

The vehicle was allowed to continue on to its destination.

A Border Force leaflet available on the Home Office website offers information to lorry drivers on how to prevent becoming victims of illegal immigration.