A van driver who smuggled six people into Kent in cramped barrels has been jailed for six years.

Ernest Kaminski, 41, from Poland hid five Vietnamese men and a teenage boy inside two narrow containers bolted to pallets, strapped and then bound in a shrink-wrapped covering.

A judge at Canterbury Crown Court heard the six could only be freed when the bolt on the floor was released by the driver using a special tool.

Border Force officials at Dover’s Eastern Docks had to remove bolts to allow the six to be released from the intermediate bulk containers, often used to store liquids.

The court heard that five men were placed in a migrant centre but all absconded leaving the 15-year-old youngster behind.

Kaminiski’s van had arrived at the docks from Calais on December 4 last year bound for Blackburn, Lancs.

Judge James O’Mahony heard that fake documents were used but the destination company was contacted and had no knowledge of any delivery.

However officials noted that nearby there was a carwash which used similar UBCs for water.

By the time officials arrived in Blackburn to question the car wash owners they also had done a bunk.

Kaminski admitted people smuggling claiming he was put under pressure to do the trip.

Judge O’Mahony said had the truck been involved in an accident on the 300 mile trip to Lancashire there would have been no way the six could have been released easily.

Dave Fairclough, deputy director of the Home Office's immigration enforcement criminal and financial investigation team, said: "This was a crime that was committed with no regard to the safety and welfare of the six people – including one child – hidden inside the cramped space in the back of the van.

"The van and its contents had been specially adapted for the sole purpose of people smuggling.

“The case, and the sentence handed down, sends a clear message that anyone involved with this kind of criminality will be caught and will face serious consequences.

“We continue to work closely with Border Force colleagues to rigorously investigate allegations of immigration related criminality.”