Home Office officials have been blasted by a lorry driver after he was fined £66,000 for migrants getting in the back of his company’s lorries as he insists they “snuck into the back”.
Ed Rogers, owner of E.M. Rogers Transport, was hit with the fine after UK Border Force found migrants in the back of one of his company’s lorries at the French border. He and his driver were being punished for “not being border force agents or security guards”, he insisted.
He told GB News: “Our guys are just normal guys going about their work and they are not border force agents. They are not security guards. We are being punished on this occasion for not fulfilling those roles.”
Writing about the fine on social media, Mr Rogers said his company – which transports rare, valuable and classic cars across Europe – was the “victim of organised gangs”. The fine is understood to be in relation to several cases of negligence from its drivers, with a probe ongoing.
Heclaimed the lorry had been travelling from Italy through France to reach Britain, adding it had successfully got through French security checks before it was held up at the UK’s scanners.
He said the driver was going about “normal working practices” and was coming through “the normal route back through France.”
Blasting Border Force, Mr Rogers added: “We have been fined this frankly ridiculous amount of money for honestly doing our job, alongside our driver who has been fined £36,000, UK Border Force are fining us for bringing six illegals over in one of our trucks.
“Thius is the same Border Force that can’t stop the boats we hear about arriving daily from across the channel. We are actually the victims of organised gangs that target vulnerable lorry drivers whilst they sleep. Can you imagine having your house broken into at night and then being fined for it?”
The investigation into Mr Rogers’ claims is ongoing.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are relentless in our pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally, and stand ready to respond robustly to clandestine arrivals.
“Far too many vehicles are not adequately secured to stop migrants boarding them. That’s why, in the last 12 months, we have strengthened the haulier civil penalty with significantly increased financial penalties to ensure that drivers are taking every reasonable step to deter illegal migration and disrupt people smugglers.”
