X-PASTER
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 12, 2007
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Asylum seeker travels 50 miles to Britain strapped under school trip coach... and emerges with a grin and thumbs-up.
Returning by coach from an enjoyable school trip abroad pupils and teachers had brought back some good memories.
The asylum seeker had
strapped himself to the gearbox
of the coach, owned by firm Bullocks
But they had also brought back another foreign memento of their trip to France that came as a massive surprise.
For as they drove up the motorway they heard the sound of banging coming from the coach floor.
Then shortly afterwards they heard the unmistakable voice of a man shouting for help rising above the noise of the engine.
When they pulled over they were stunned when an asylum seeker crawled out from under the coach.
He had strapped himself to the bottom of a coach and travelled 50 miles strapped to the bottom of a coach as it returned from a school exchange trip to France.
Staff and pupils from St Paul's Primary in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, were on their way home when they heard somebody banging and shouting 'help'.
The coach, which had been travelling at up to 70mph, stopped at a toll booth at the M25 Dartford crossing
Then a Sudanese man in his late teens slid out from underneath, gave pupils the 'thumbs up' and handed himself over to authorities.
It is thought he got on to the coach at Cite Europe, a shopping centre in Calais where the youngsters stopped before boarding a ferry home.
A group of 30 pupils, aged 10 and 11, and six teachers were on the five-day trip to Armentieres in northern France, which is twinned with Stalybridge.
Headteacher Janet Hand, who was on the trip, said: 'We'd been driving for about 50 miles when the kids said they could hear banging.
'It was pouring down with rain. We turned the radio down, and there was really heavy banging on the coach and we could hear someone shouting 'Help'.
'It was scary, the kids were panicking. We didn't know how many people were under there. As we pulled in, this guy gets out from under the coach, puts his thumbs up and waves to us. We saw him giving himself up.'
Alan Bullock, director of Cheadle-based Bullocks coach company, said the man had strapped himself to the gearbox.
He said: 'We got to the port and the coach was searched. But he sat on top of the gearbox. There's no way you could see him - we didn't know the space existed. He could have been killed.
'Obviously, we will check this in future but it's my intention that we don't go to Cite Europe.'
Mrs Hand added: 'We had a great time but we didn't expect to come back with an extra passenger.'
Dailymail
Returning by coach from an enjoyable school trip abroad pupils and teachers had brought back some good memories.
The asylum seeker had
strapped himself to the gearbox
of the coach, owned by firm Bullocks
But they had also brought back another foreign memento of their trip to France that came as a massive surprise.
For as they drove up the motorway they heard the sound of banging coming from the coach floor.
Then shortly afterwards they heard the unmistakable voice of a man shouting for help rising above the noise of the engine.
When they pulled over they were stunned when an asylum seeker crawled out from under the coach.
He had strapped himself to the bottom of a coach and travelled 50 miles strapped to the bottom of a coach as it returned from a school exchange trip to France.
Staff and pupils from St Paul's Primary in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, were on their way home when they heard somebody banging and shouting 'help'.
The coach, which had been travelling at up to 70mph, stopped at a toll booth at the M25 Dartford crossing
Then a Sudanese man in his late teens slid out from underneath, gave pupils the 'thumbs up' and handed himself over to authorities.
It is thought he got on to the coach at Cite Europe, a shopping centre in Calais where the youngsters stopped before boarding a ferry home.
A group of 30 pupils, aged 10 and 11, and six teachers were on the five-day trip to Armentieres in northern France, which is twinned with Stalybridge.
Headteacher Janet Hand, who was on the trip, said: 'We'd been driving for about 50 miles when the kids said they could hear banging.
'It was pouring down with rain. We turned the radio down, and there was really heavy banging on the coach and we could hear someone shouting 'Help'.
'It was scary, the kids were panicking. We didn't know how many people were under there. As we pulled in, this guy gets out from under the coach, puts his thumbs up and waves to us. We saw him giving himself up.'
Alan Bullock, director of Cheadle-based Bullocks coach company, said the man had strapped himself to the gearbox.
He said: 'We got to the port and the coach was searched. But he sat on top of the gearbox. There's no way you could see him - we didn't know the space existed. He could have been killed.
'Obviously, we will check this in future but it's my intention that we don't go to Cite Europe.'
Mrs Hand added: 'We had a great time but we didn't expect to come back with an extra passenger.'
Dailymail
