Moment group of migrants wander around motorway station after ‘getting off lorry from France’
By KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER[1]
Published: 00:56, 9 January 2026 | Updated: 02:32, 9 January 2026
A large group of migrants were filmed wandering around a motorway station after allegedly getting off a lorry from France[2].
Footage shows a large group of men and women walking through Toddington Services on the M1 in Bedfordshire on Tuesday afternoon when they are approached by a lorry driver.
The motorist questions where they have come from and asks whether they just got out of a truck, to which one of the men replies: 'Yeah.'
As the group begins to walk away from him, the lorry driver says: 'Nice phones, nice shoes, where have you come from? Why don't you get on a truck and go back?'
He adds: 'This ain't your homeland mate. You've got no business being here.
It won't be an easy ride, it won't be a free ride, go home.'
The video ends with the group walking towards the station exit towards the motorway.
Bedfordshire Police confirmed a group of 13 illegal migrants were arrested at nearby Harlington Rail Station on Tuesday afternoon.
A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said: 'A number of people have been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences after we were called at around 1.45pm on Tuesday (6 January) to reports of people leaving a lorry at Toddington Services.
Footage shows a group of migrants wandering through Toddington Services on the M1 in Bedfordshire on Tuesday afternoon, after allegedly getting off a lorry from France
The group begins to walk away as a lorry driver asks them: 'Where have you come from?'
A migrant holds a phone as he looks at the lorry driver at the motorway station
'Officers attended and arrested 13 men and women on suspicion of immigration offences shortly afterwards at Harlington Rail Station, in connection with the incident.
'They were taken into police custody, and the investigation has now been handed over to Immigration Enforcement officers.'
Migrants have been sharing video tutorials on social media on how to illegally smuggle themselves into Britain[3], it was reported this week.
Videos posted on TikTok show migrants hiding behind bushes before sprinting after moving lorries and jumping onto them to break into their trailers.
Seven clips, edited into one video, were uploaded to show how migrants can hitch a lift on a lorry without the driver realising they are inadvertently helping sneak them into the UK.
The footage, believed to have been filmed in north France, shows one migrant hiding behind a bush before running after the lorry as it drives by and jumping into the gap between the trailer and driver's cab.
One video, which starts the sequence, shows an unsuccessful attempt where a lorry is travelling too quickly for the migrant to jump onto the back. 'The next one is better,' the caption read in Arabic.
The group refused to confirm where they came from when questioned by the lorry driver
The video ends with the group walking towards the station exit towards the motorway
A series of successful attempts then follow, with captions including 'congratulations, UK welcome' and 'finally, he brought it.
Thank God for his safety'.
Emojis of the British flag are displayed on the clips, as is the dice emoji, which is used to highlight the risk involved.
In one video, a migrant in designer clothes is seen filming himself lying on boxes in the back of a lorry.
A Home Office spokesman previously said: 'We are relentless in our pursuit of people-smuggling gangs and stand ready to respond to all methods, including lorries and other clandestine routes.
'That's why the Home Secretary has set out the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times, removing incentives which draw people to the UK illegally and making it easier to remove and deport them.
'Our tougher legislation and continued work with our French counterparts will disrupt vile people-smuggling gangs.'
TikTokFrance[4][5]References
- ^ KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ France (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ sharing video tutorials on social media on how to illegally smuggle themselves into Britain (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ TikTok (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ France (www.dailymail.co.uk)