Moment 16 migrants together with a baby are found in a refrigerated lorry after being smuggled into the UK: Driver, 64, arrested 

This is the dramatic moment 16 suspected migrants including a child were discovered hiding out in the back of a refrigerated lorry after being smuggled into the UK.

The footage obtained by MailOnline was captured after uniformed police officers and plain-clothed immigration officials swooped on the vehicle on a busy roadside in Surrey.

Police tracked down the vehicle and brought it to a stop after they were called to the M25 motorway between Reigate and Leatherhead by concerned members of the public.

Around 10 police vehicles, including patrol cars and marked vans, swooped on the lorry outside a highways department depot near leafy Wraysbury.

Shocked eyewitnesses told how the group of stowaways were escorted from the back of the juggernaut which had foreign-registered number plates during the operation.

The group, both men and women, appeared to have few possessions other than blankets and a couple of rucksacks.

They had wrapped themselves up in warm winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves for the perilous journey.

Images show the suspected illegal immigrants helping each other as they scrambled through a small gap between a pile of blue plastic pallets around eight feet high and the roof of the lorry.

The footage obtained by MailOnline was captured after uniformed police officers and plain-clothed immigration officials swooped on the vehicle on a busy roadside in Surrey

Police tracked down the vehicle and brought it to a stop after they were called to the M25 motorway between Reigate and Leatherhead by concerned members of the public

Around 10 police vehicles, including patrol cars and marked vans, swooped on the lorry outside a highways department depot near leafy Wraysbury

At one point a police officer, wearing blue disposable gloves, also climbed onto the back of the vehicle.

The clandestine passengers were ushered into the nearby depot as an investigation was launched.

One looker said: ‘I saw ten to 15 people escorted out of the back of the lorry with their belongings. They appeared to be stowaways from Africa. 

‘I had just come back from doing some Christmas shopping and I saw the police operation unfold before my eyes.

‘This is a quiet village and it all took place on a residential street.

‘The men were taken to the Highways depot nearby. A policeman said they had discovered some people in the back of the lorry.

‘He said they were going to be given “welfare checks” before deciding what to do with them.

‘It looked like something serious. I saw about a dozen people being taken out.

‘After they got everyone out a police dog team was sent in, probably to see if there was anyone else hiding in the back.’

Shocked eyewitnesses told how the group of stowaways were escorted from the back of the juggernaut which had foreign-registered number plates during the operation

The group, both men and women, appeared to have few possessions other than blankets and a couple of rucksacks

He added: ‘Wraysbury is a small village. You don’t expect to see something like this here.’

The operation came after police were alerted by members of the public shortly before 10.55am on Saturday December 7 over concerns for the safety of people inside the lorry.

Police said 15 adults were detained in custody and one child was taken into police protection.

The driver of the vehicle, a 64-year-old man of no fixed address, was arrested at the scene.

Following an investigation by the Surrey Police Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit and the Home Office, he was released with no further action.

The 15 adults have been detained by the Home Office. The child has since been placed into the care of the local authority.

Surrey Police said: ‘Shortly before 10.55am on Saturday December 7, officers were called to the M25 following a report of a concern for safety for persons inside a lorry between J8 and J9.

‘Officers located the lorry and brought it to a stop on Wraysbury Road where it was searched and 16 people located inside.

‘Fifteen adults were taken into custody and one child was taken into police protection.’