Channel Tunnel 'asylum gang' caught

Many refugees hope to reach Britain through the tunnel

French police have arrested five Romanians suspected of tampering with railway signals to stop trains heading for Britain so asylum seekers could get on board.

It is thought the gang used a home made device to halt one or two trains a week, heading for the Channel Tunnel, over a period of several months.

Police said the Romanians were arrested when a freight train was stopped near Hazebrouck, about 40km (25 miles) from the tunnel.

The gang could now face charges of aiding and abetting the travel of illegal immigrants.

Railway know-how

Christian Wolmar of Rail magazine suggested the immigrants may have worked on the railway in Romania.

"They would not have needed a particularly sophisticated piece of equipment - it is quite easy to short out these things [signals].

"But they would need to know a little bit about railways."

The Romanians were arrested late on Friday night after the French rail authorities requested help from the police.

Smuggling rings

Thirty Romanians were found attempting to get on board the train and a further six were discovered already hidden on it.

All were taken to the controversial Red Cross refugee centre at Sangatte, just two kilometres from the tunnel entrance.

Around 150 officers had been looking for the gang for three nights in parts of northern France through which freight trains pass on their way to the Channel Tunnel.

The BBC's Paris correspondent, James Coomarasamy says while it is unclear where the Romanians were living, suspicions have again fallen on the Sangatte camp.

Stormed

"It is suspected that the centre is being used as a base for people-smuggling rings," he said.

The arrests come a month after hundreds of would-be immigrants stormed the tunnel entrance in one of the most dramatic attempts by illegal immigrants to reach Britain.

In the past week British and French ministers met to discuss ways of tackling the latest wave of cross Channel immigration.

They agreed to keep the Sangatte centre open, at least in the short term.

The British Government and the rail tunnel operating company Eurotunnel want France to shut the Sangatte camp, home to more than 1,000 people mainly of Iraqi and Afghan origin.