FOUR illegal immigrants arrived in Dorset clinging to the axle of a lorry.

The men, who are all thought to be from Iraq, were spotted climbing out from under a lorry at Manitou (Site Lift) Ltd on the Ebblake Industrial Estate at Verwood on Monday afternoon.

The lorry travelled to Dorset from Manitou's parent company in France arriving in the UK via Portsmouth ferry port.

Adam Le Goff, finance director at Manitou, said: "They all ran away as soon as the lorry stopped.

"They were underneath the trailer rather than in it. There is a cradle underneath where the spare wheel goes and they were hidden in there.

"What's amazing is that according to the driver the lorry was checked at the ports but only the inside - they didn't check underneath."

He added: "This is the second time we have had immigrants come in. Last year we opened the lorry doors and found a group inside. It was easy to quickly shut the doors then and call the police - when they are underneath it's harder to stop them.

"Now they are looking at closing the big camp in France we could be getting more trying to come over."

The men were taken to Poole police station where they were given food before being handed over to the Immigration authorities.

A Police spokesman said: "A member of the public saw two men emerging from under the lorry and then two others leaving the Ebblake industrial estate.

"They were seen walking towards Verwood town centre when we detained them and took them into custody."

A spokeswoman for the Immigration Service said it was not yet known if the men were seeking asylum but they were being questioned and would be dealt with through the normal process.

The four Iraqis are the latest in a series of illegal immigrants who have found their way into Dorset via lorries coming through the ports.

In February a group of six adults and six children believed to have been from Albania were spotted walking around Ferndown Industrial Estate. They were suspected of arriving in a German registered lorry found nearby.

Just days before that two men and a woman from Iraq were spotted leaping from a lorry on the A31 at St Leonards.

The trio had slit open the soft sided lorry to make their bid for freedom but were quickly rounded up.

And in April officials swooped at a chicken processing factory in Okeford Fitzpaine near Blandford where eight asylum seekers from Iraq, Kosovo, Nepal and Uzbekistan were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences.

Several were found to be failed asylum seekers who were flown straight home while others were taken to detention centres.