EIGHTEEN suspected illegal immigrants, including seven ‘children’, were found in a lorry at Poole Harbour late on Saturday night.

Police officers made the discovery and immediately contacted Border Force officials.

The 10 men, one woman and seven ‘minors’ said they were from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.

They were taken to Poole Hospital for assessment and treated for minor respiratory problems before being discharged and referred to Immigration Enforcement.

A Home Office spokesperson said the seven claimed minors would be passed into the care of social services to be age assessed.

The spokesperson added: “A man was arrested on suspicion of facilitating a breach of the UK’s immigration laws but has since been released without charge. However, civil penalties will be imposed for failure to conduct the necessary checks on a vehicle prior to entering the UK.”

It is believed a cross-Channel ferry had arrived at Poole from Cherbourg about an hour before the migrants were discovered.

A Poole Hospital spokesperson told the Echo: “ Last night 18 individuals were brought in to the Emergency Department at Poole Hospital. These individuals all received appropriate assessments and were mainly treated for minor respiratory problems. I can confirm no one was admitted.

“The Trust coped very well with a large influx of patients in the early hours of the morning, under unusual circumstances.”

The incident has again raised questions of how secure Poole Port is.

Last September, six illegal immigrants were detained trying to get into the UK through Poole Port.

Borough of Poole councillor Mark Howell, who represents the Poole town ward, told the Daily Echo: “We need more information on this sort of thing from the organisations concerned.

“The problem is that we don’t know the numbers of people who are getting through.

“But numbers like this suggest it is happening, and it is happening through the Port of Poole.”

“There is a wider issue, when I have spoken to people who work within the Border Force, I’m told the widespread feeling is morale is low because of government underfunding. This needs to change.

“While this is not really a Poole council issue, I do believe it is something that councillors in Poole should be informed of. Certainly, as councillors we don’t get enough information about this at the moment.”

Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill has also raised concerns about port security and said that small ports “are the weakest link”.