A group of stowaways were discovered hiding in the back of a lorry in Barway.

Police found 12 people, four of them children, in the back of the vehicle, which had travelled from Spain, shortly before 4pm on Monday as it headed into the hamlet.

Officers arrested a 41-year-old man from Spain on suspicion of helping asylum seekers enter the country.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police said: “Police were called at 3.52pm yesterday with reports of suspected illegal immigrants in the back of a lorry in Barway, near Soham.

“Police attended and discovered 12 people in the back of a Spanish produce lorry.

“A 41-year-old man from Spain was arrested on suspicion of helping asylum seekers to enter the UK illegally. He is currently in custody at King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre.

“A 32-year-old man, two 26-year-old men, two five-year-old boys, a 23-year-old woman, a 24-year-old woman, a one-year-old girl, a two-year-old boy, a 24-year-old man, a 29-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man were all taken to King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre on suspicion of entering the UK without leave.”