Hampshire Constabulary appeal for dash cam footage to assist Home Office investigation following potential organised immigration crime incident in the New Forest

Officers in Hampshire are assisting the Home Office with an investigation following an incident that happened on Tuesday 29 June in on the A31 near Cadnam.

Police were called at 12.08pm to reports of several people exiting a trailer of a lorry which was stationary in a layby on the A31 between the Cadnam interchange and the roundabout that links up to the A336 and A337.

The layby in which the incident occurred was near the turning for Cadnam Lane.

A 42-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation. He was questioned by the Home Office and released under investigation to allow for further enquiries.

A 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of entering the United Kingdom without leave. They were both dealt with by Immigration Enforcement.

A 16-year-old boy was also arrested on suspicion of entering the United Kingdom without leave, but has since been de-arrested and was placed in the care of social services.  

Hampshire Constabulary is supporting the Home Office who is leading on the investigation and as part of that we would like to appeal to drivers who were in the area at the time with dash cam footage to come forward.

We would like to thank those members of the public who originally alerted us to the incident.

Now, we are specifically looking to identify a man in a car who was seen parked up behind the lorry trailer in the layby near Cadnam Lane at the time of the incident.

The driver has been described as a man who was on the phone, and the car he was in has been described as a dark blue, 4-door estate type car, possibly a Skoda.

Were you driving in this on the A31 between the Cadnam interchange and the roundabout that links up to the A336 and A337 on Tuesday 29 June between 11.30am and 2pm and do you have dash cam footage?

If you can help, please call Hampshire Constabulary on 101 and quote 44210255458, alternatively, you can submit a form via our website https://www.hampshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/ and we will pass your information onto the Home Office investigation team.