'The migrant minibuses wait there all night': How quiet Essex port at centre of death truck tragedy 'comes alive at night' as ruthless traffickers exchange human cargo under cover of darkness

  • Purfleet in Essex 'comes alive at night' with the arrival of trafficked migrants
  • Former port security guard Gary Lilley says there is a 'migrant minibus service'
  • Claims there is a 'notorious' lay-by near port where migrants ditch documents
  • NCA warned people-smugglers are switching to Purfleet because it's 'less busy'

People-smuggling operations are so rife at the port where 39 Chinese people were found dead this week that there is said to be a 'migrant minibus service'.

Former port security guard Gary Lilley, 61, has described how Purfleet on the River Thames in Essex 'comes alive at night' with the arrival of trafficked migrants.

Mr Lilley, who lives opposite the port where he worked for six weeks in 2012, also claimed minibuses meet lorries to take away the migrants following their arrival.

But the Home Office has insisted there are enough resources made available to police ports and other borders, saying is is hiring 1,000 more staff to 'help maintain security' at borders. In the last year, 900 officers were hired. 

Three private ambulances arrive at Tilbury Port to remove the remaining victims this morning

Three private ambulances arrive at Tilbury Port to remove the remaining victims this morning

Floral tributes have been left at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays this morning

Floral tributes have been left at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays this morning

Mr Lilley told The Times there is a 'notorious' lay-by near the port where migrants ditch their documents so UK authorities don't know where to repatriate them to.

He added: 'Minibuses wait there at night for them to arrive. Last summer during the heatwave I gave water bottles to two five-year-old girls as they looked desperate.

'They were standing by the side of the road in a group of about 15. At the lay-by you see the lorries pull up and the migrants pop their heads out to see if it's safe.

'On many occasions I've seen minibuses pull up and they jump in and are driven off. It's so organised.'  

Police at the industrial estate in Grays in Essex today after 39 bodies were discovered in a lorry

Police at the industrial estate in Grays in Essex today after 39 bodies were discovered in a lorry

Police still present on the industrial estate in Grays this morning following the grim discovery

Police still present on the industrial estate in Grays this morning following the grim discovery

Mr Lilley said security is 'lax' at the port, with an X-ray scanner on a customs and excise lorry arriving once every two months for a day to scan vehicles arriving.

The driver of the truck was 25-year-old Mo Robinson, from Northern Ireland

The driver of the truck was 25-year-old Mo Robinson, from Northern Ireland

The local resident, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said the deaths were 'heartbreaking' and left him upset - but he was not surprised by what happened.

It follows the National Crime Agency warning in 2016 that people-smugglers were switching to Purfleet because it was 'less busy' than other UK entry points.

The incident on Wednesday has raised questions about border checks and whether the authorities have done enough to tackle trafficking gangs.

This May the NCA warned that Belgian ports such as Zeebrugge – from where the contained travelled to Purfleet - were becoming people-smuggling hotspots.

An earlier report from the Border Force also said Zeebrugge was a key concern.

Asked about security at Purfleet, a Home Office spokesman said this week: 'I cannot comment on the specific deployment of Border Force staff and security technology.'

Janet Lilley, who lives by the port in Purfleet, said that around a decade ago she started to notice people 'wandering around with suitcases, backpacks' and they 'kept asking where's the station' in broken English.

Lorries are pictured outside the Purfleet Thames Terminal in Essex on Wednesday

Lorries are pictured outside the Purfleet Thames Terminal in Essex on Wednesday

The 61-year-old said that dozens of torn-up pages of passports have blown into her garden and that she reported this to police.

'Over the last few years it's got worse,' she said. 'People would come strolling out of the docks, get in the vans and that's it, they drive off.'

She said the people coming out are 'acting suspiciously, they're dishevelled' and that the port does not have a passenger terminal. 'It's so sad,' she said.

'I can't imagine a worse death. I know they shouldn't be there because they're trying to get in illegally, but the point is they're humans and they're being exploited.'

An aerial view of Purfleet Port (file image) where 39 Chinese people were found dead this week

An aerial view of Purfleet Port (file image) where 39 Chinese people were found dead this week

She claimed that security at the port is 'virtually non-existent'. 'It's a magnet for illegals,' she said.

Lee Tubby, 45, who lives opposite the port, said he has seen people 'climbing out the top and out the back' of lorries and cutting the plastic roof covering to climb through.

'We've had people just come out of the port knocking on the door asking for shoes, asking for water,' he said.

Another made a bonfire under a bench to cook some food after he was chased out of the port by security, he said.

Purfleet in Essex is said to 'come alive at night' with the arrival of trafficked migrants

Purfleet in Essex is said to 'come alive at night' with the arrival of trafficked migrants

The forklift truck driver said there was a lack of staff and that groups of illegal immigrants were able to get away after they were stopped.

'They've got one security guard with them or one police officer and when they decide they're going to bolt, what do you do? Your hands are tied.'

His neighbour Susan Bridge, 47, said she has seen vans waiting to pick people up, minibuses lined up and illegal immigrants walking along the road.

'I wouldn't say it was even a secret to be perfectly honest,' the retail worker said. 'We all know that it's going on in this area.'

Minibuses are said to meet lorries to take away the migrants following their arrival at Purfleet

Minibuses are said to meet lorries to take away the migrants following their arrival at Purfleet 

She said people have alerted police to suspicious activity and illegal immigrants have been detained by the authorities but 'it continues to go on'.

'Unless you have police and security checking every single lorry coming in and out then it's going to continue,' she said.

Last night, police began moving the bodies found in the refrigerated trailer attached to a lorry as a 25-year-old man remains in custody on suspicion of murder.

Detectives were granted more time to question the driver of the truck, Mo Robinson from Northern Ireland, after eight women and 31 men were discovered dead. 

There is said to be a 'notorious' lay-by near the port where migrants ditch their documents

There is said to be a 'notorious' lay-by near the port where migrants ditch their documents

Yesterday evening, the first 11 victims were moved by a private ambulance with a police escort from the Port of Tilbury to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

The remaining bodies will be transported in stages, with police expecting all the victims to be moved to hospital by the end of the week.

Post-mortem examinations will be carried out, but police warned the investigation will take 'some considerable time'.

Essex Police Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said he had the 'utmost confidence' in his officers as the force leads its largest-ever murder investigation.

Police drive the lorry along a road from the scene at Waterglade Industrial Park on Wednesday

Police drive the lorry along a road from the scene at Waterglade Industrial Park on Wednesday

Irish police are conducting follow-up inquiries in relation to the registrations and movements of the refrigerated container and the Irish-owned truck. 

Questions have been raised about when the victims entered the sealed refrigerated trailer, where temperatures can be as low as -25C, as well as the full route of the unit.

Vigils have been held in London and Belfast to pay tribute to the victims and a book of condolence has been opened in Grays.

What border checks are made on lorries and containers coming to the UK?

The deaths of 39 people found in a lorry container in the UK have sparked concerns about the checks on vehicles entering the country.

Here are some key questions about the process.

- Which vehicles are checked?

Lorries, containers, other freight vehicles and cars can be subject to checks as they travel to the UK.

Not all vehicles are checked when they board and decisions by Border Force officers on which ones to search are 'targeted' and based on intelligence, the Home Office said.

Border Force works with the National Crime Agency and European authorities in France, Belgium and the Netherlands to share intelligence to target organised crime gangs behind people trafficking and smuggling, the Home Office said.

- Where are checks made?

The UK has border controls in France and Belgium, where it carries out passport checks of travellers as well as searching for smuggled goods.

The checkpoints are in ports at Dunkirk and Calais, the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, and at Calais-Frethun and Brussels Midi stations for Eurostar passengers.

- Are there sufficient resources?

The Home Office has insisted there are enough resources made available to police ports and other borders.

It said it is now in the process of hiring 1,000 more staff to 'help maintain security' at borders.

In the last year, 900 officers were hired.

The Home Office said it is 'continually looking to improve our capability to respond to changing threats, to detect, deter and disrupt harm'.

- What kinds of checks are carried out?

Officers can use carbon dioxide detectors, motion sensors and sniffer dogs to detect people hiding in lorries.

Containers are identified at ports to be searched by officials.

When searching cars, officers may test surfaces for drug residue, check underneath the vehicle and manually search among luggage in the boot.

- What responsibility do drivers and haulage companies have?

Drivers and hauliers are told to 'operate effective security measures' to stop migrants hiding in their vehicles to enter the UK illegally.

If any are found, the drivers and companies can be fined.

But some lorry drivers have told of daily difficulties in trying to prevent their cargo being targeted, even when they have taken steps to secure their vehicles.

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