POOLE Port could become an easy target for asylum seekers if security is not stepped up, a Dorset MP has warned.

MP for Poole Robert Syms has hit out at the government's "soft" immigration and asylum policy and says more immigration and customs officers need to be drafted in to avoid the port becoming an easy access route for illegal immigrants.

Mr Syms' concerns have been reignited following a poll which revealed that a big majority of voters believe the government's immigration and asylum policy is too lax.

The survey for The Sun newspaper found that 82 per cent of those questioned thought the government's policies on immigration and people who sought asylum in Britain were "not tough enough".

This, coupled with the discovery on Sunday morning of three illegal immigrants in an articulated lorry in Poole, has prompted fresh fears.

The Spanish-registered lorry had arrived at Portsmouth docks after crossing France.

It was stopped by officers on the Fleetsbridge flyover on Sunday morning, where three Iraqi Kurds were found. One had been crushed to death.

Mr Syms has raised concerns since the decision was made to remove the permanent presence of customs officers and form mobile units instead.

"I think that the government has been soft and has been giving out all the wrong messages," he said.

"We should have better security and more immigration officers and customs officers in our port."

But both HM Customs and the Immigration Service feel adequate measures are being taken and say steps have been introduced which have cut the number of illegal immigrants.

Spokesman Bob Gaiger said the prime responsibility of Customs is to detect Class A drugs but officers work closely with the Immigration Service.

"We are well aware of the fact that there can be stowaways on board lorries and vessels and so we do look for them," he said. "If we do find illegal immigrants they are handed over."

An Immigration Service spokesperson said: "The government is strengthening our borders and defining the rules to halve the number of asylum seekers by September.

"New border controls in France have already stopped 2,500 asylum seekers coming to the UK illegally."

Referring to Poole Port, he said: "We have all sorts of measures in place such as screening lorries and so forth to catch those people that illegally traffic refugees."

The most recent quarterly figures released by the government show that some 600 refugees in the South West are currently receiving subsistence support from the National Asylum Support Service.

There are 1,005 currently in accommodation in the South West.