This is the shocking moment 19 migrants clamber onto a lorry and cling on in a desperate bid to make it to Britain before being hauled...
This is the shocking moment 19 migrants clamber onto a lorry and cling on in a desperate bid to make it to Britain before being hauled off by French authorities.
Video footage shows the migrants climbing onto the back of Ian Tyrrell's flatbed truck as he headed towards the port of Caen in Brittany, France, on October 17 at around 6.30pm.
In the footage captured by Mr Tyrrell, 45, the men can be seen hauling themselves onto the trailer as it slowly passes a roundabout.
Another clip shows Mr Tyrrell confronting one of the men, telling him to get 'off off off'.
Fearing he could be fined thousands of pounds, Mr Tyrrell alerted French police who removed the 19 men allowing him to continue his journey to Portsmouth.
Mr Tyrrell from Antrim, Northern Ireland, said: 'As I was getting closer to the dock I could see them on the side of the roundabout.
'You're at your slowest point on the roundabout and they just swamp you. They just run to jump on and as I'm a flatbed carrying machinery it's easier as they don't have to open any doors.
'I had 19 on there when I got into the dock and the French police pulled them off.
'Two of them were tucked up right inside machinery.
French police can be seen shining torches as they look for the stowaways who have lodged themselves between heavy machinery on the back of the lorry.
Mr Tyrrell said: 'It was quite scary. I've seen them in Calais throwing things at lorries, putting windows through and throwing things like bricks on the floor to make you stop.
'When I saw them I wound my window up and locked my doors, they just swamped me. They were all over the trailer.
'It's a £1,000 fine if you get caught as they fine the lorry drivers - it could have cost me £19,000.
'You couldn't even start to pull them off on your own.
'A lot of them carry knives so that they can cut the side of lorries to get out.'
Mr Tyrrell, who has been a lorry driver for 25 years, said he travels through Caen or Calais around twice a week to deliver machinery all over Europe and that having to remove asylum seekers has become part of the routine for lorry drivers.
Ian said he has sympathy with the young men's plight but thinks Britain is an 'easy target'.
The father-of-three said: 'I know everybody should have a good standard of life but I think they're coming to the UK because it's an easy target because they can get benefits and houses.
'It's all men, I've never seen any women or children. There are a lot of them in Caen, which is a small place. There are lots of camps.
Mr Tyrrell believes his lorry has become an easy target because it is an open truck.
He said: 'I got off the lorry and confronted them and I thought one of them was going to spit at me. I said 'off off off' and the police joined me.
'I've had someone get violent before in Calais when I was filling up with diesel. They started circling the lorry with swords which they use to cut themselves out of the side of the lorry, that was scary.
'It's always been an issue in Calais but it's becoming more of an issue in places like Caen and the Hook of Holland.
'This is a regular occurrence but I've never had it as bad as this time. That's one of the worst times I've seen.
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