Three men were rescued from inside a refrigerated lorry after they called police for help, saying they were struggling to breathe.

A hunt for the vehicle was launched and the lorry, believed to have travelled from France, was tracked by Essex police and Cambridgeshire police up the M11 to the A14 at Brampton Hut services just before 4.30pm on Wednesday (February 17).

East of England Ambulance Service attended, to check the welfare of the men before they were arrested by the Beds, Cambs and Herts Roads Policing Unit. They will now be handled by immigration services.

Police have asked the public to help them look out for warning signs of problems, particularly at service stations or laybys.

These include seeing people emerging from a lorry or HGV, especially suddenly or as if in a rush, hearing banging from the inside of a lorry, seeing a group of people heading towards or going inside of the back of a lorry, or anything that doesn’t seem quite right – for example if things are being thrown from a lorry or something is being done to catch the attention of other motorists.

Witnesses should call police on 999 immediately and take a note of the vehicle registration number, even if it has foreign plates.