Man stows away in navy base lorry

An investigation will be carried out into the incident

A suspected illegal immigrant has been arrested as he tried to escape from a lorry inside Portsmouth Naval Base.

The man, who claimed to be from Afghanistan, tried to flee from the back of a German-registered lorry delivering stores to the base.

A Royal Navy spokesman said an investigation would be carried out.

It comes two weeks after an illegal immigrant was found inside Sandhurst military academy after stowing away on an Army coach from Germany.

The suspect was apprehended in the naval base not far from the gates, the spokesman said.

He was arrested by Ministry of Defence (MoD) police and later handed over to the UK Border Agency.

"Reports that he got near a warship are absolute nonsense," the spokesman added.

He said until an investigation was completed "it would be inappropriate to comment further".

The lorry had entered the UK from Calais, France.