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There has been a jump in the number of illegal asylum seekers secretly getting on board UK-bound trucks in the last six months, says the Road Haulage Association (RHA). Peter Cullum, the association's head of international affairs, says that the numbers are still low compared to five years ago, but that the last few months has seen RHA members reporting a noticeable increase.

Cullum says: "Although numbers are small, it is something we are warning members  to be careful about. In the last six months our members have logged five or six cases with us, whereas in the year before that there weren't any." Cullum adds that the RHA experience probably mirrors the national picture where an annual figure of 12,000 illegals being found on all forms of transport in the early years of the century has now dropped to about 1200.

Cullum adds that weather seems to be one factor which affects the numer of stowaways. He says: "Bad weather seems to discourage them, so you get fewer when it rains or during a cold winter." One of the encouraging developments for hauliers whose vehicles are found to have illegals aboard is that customs officials appear to be more willing to drop fines against them.

Cullum says: "Of those members that have reported having illegals found, a number have subsequently had proceedings dropped completely." Hauliers have long argued that even the most diligent measures to keep loads sealed and asylum seekers away  can be undermined by determined would-be illegal immigrants.

Cullum says: "We even had one recent case where an illegal immigrant was found on a vehicle in France, the truck was searched, and then more were found in the same truck on the British side. It can be extremely difficult to stop them."