M25 shuts as 'illegal immigrants jump out of truck and run around on carriageway'

 
Standstill: Cars were gridlocked on the M25 in Surrey (Picture: @RossGregory30/PA)
@RossGregory30
Ramzy Alwakeel9 July 2015

A group of suspected illegal immigrants today brought the M25 to a standstill by jumping out of a lorry and "running around the carriageway".

Police shut the motorway at Cobham and detained the men in pairs, joking on Twitter that they were "starting to run out of handcuffs".

At first officers believed there were seven men on the run, but after the sixth was detained they decided to allow drivers to pass.

"Please be patient if you're stuck on the motorway," Surrey's road policing unit told followers on Twitter. "We can't risk a serious collision on the M25."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/M25?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/hashtag/M25?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#M25</a> junction 10 - 9 in BOTH directions by Cobham Services. We have at least 4 males running around the main carriageway. It is now CLOSED— Surrey Police - RPU (@SurreyRoadCops) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619118613937684480" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619118613937684480" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 9, 2015</a>

Photographs showed cars at a standstill and drivers stepping into the road to cool off. Tracie Williams called the scene, which played out near Cobham Services between junctions 9 and 10, "chaos".

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We have just detained two men. Another possible 5 still 'on the run'. More reports of more runners as we deal.— Surrey Police - RPU (@SurreyRoadCops) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619119629122842624" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619119629122842624" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 9, 2015</a>

"Surrey Police was called to the M25 at Cobham at 12.58pm following reports of people running across the carriageway," a police spokesman said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">And another two detained, initially spotted by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/NPAS_Redhill" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/NPAS_Redhill" data-vars-event-id="c23">@NPAS_Redhill</a>, detained by dog unit and RPU unit— Surrey Police - RPU (@SurreyRoadCops) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619121313567875072" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619121313567875072" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 9, 2015</a>

"The carriageway was closed for approximately 30 minutes to enable officers to safely deal with the incident. Officers were supported at the scene by the National Police Air Service.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We have another 3 possibly outstanding. Starting to run out of handcuffs!— Surrey Police - RPU (@SurreyRoadCops) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619121630439190528" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619121630439190528" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 9, 2015</a>

"Six people have been arrested on suspicion of illegal entry into the country and will be passed over to UK Visas and Immigration."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We have released both carriageways after detaining 6. Please drive with care. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/M25?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/hashtag/M25?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#M25</a> is OPEN Thanks for patience— Surrey Police - RPU (@SurreyRoadCops) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619125477039579136" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-8351-https://twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/619125477039579136" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 9, 2015</a>

Surrey Police could not say what the lorry had been carrying, or how big it was.

Gridlock: A aerial shot of the traffic (Picture: @NPAS_Redhill/PA)
@NPAS_Redhill/PA

The orbital motorway's closure compounded a day of transport headaches for Londoners, as Tube strikes left thousands of people queueing for overcrowded buses or working from home.

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