Immigrants caught at army barracks

Five illegal immigrants were caught at an army barracks after they hid on board trucks in a military convoy, police said on Thursday.

The men were spotted jumping from two lorries inside the military base in South Cerney in Gloucestershire in western England on Tuesday evening.

Police said it was thought the men had stowed themselves on board the lorries, which were being driven by private contractors, at the French port of Calais.

The convoy was shipping military Land Rovers back from Kosovo, the Sun newspaper said.

"They all seemed very jovial and quite happy. They did not seem concerned they had jumped into an army barracks," Army Captain Giles Cutter told the paper.

"Fortunately there was a squadron on duty and a few burly Fijian soldiers wrestled the first two to the ground."

Police said the men, two from India, two from Afghanistan and an Iranian, aged between 15 and 26, were taken to a local police station before being handed over to immigration officials and taken to a detention centre.