A lorry driver with 40 years of experience travelling back and forth across the Channel says he wants to ‘pack it up’ after receiving thousands of pounds in fines by Border Force officials – the latest one for failing to properly attach a small door seal. 

Gary Probert, 65, has accused the Home Office of landing freight workers with ‘disproportionate’ financial penalties in efforts aimed at stopping asylum seekers crossing over from Europe to the UK.

He was shocked to receive a letter demanding £1,500 at risk of having his vehicle seized after officials spotted a plastic seal connecting to a padlock on his lorry had not been fastened tightly enough.

No one infiltrated his lorry during the journey – but he says he has also been punished to the tune of thousands of pounds after migrants sliced their way through plastic sheeting to stow away on board.

On that occasion three years ago he says he was the one who alerted the trespassers to officials, after they got in while he slept on an overnight journey from Zeebrugge.

But Mr Probert, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, and his firm were landed with a £2,500 fine for having an ‘unsecured goods vehicle’ in breach of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 including the Carriers’ Liability Regulations 2002.

He is now speaking out after a British couple were fined £1,500 after it was discovered how a migrants had got into their caravan on a trip back from France.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton had the penalty rescinded last month, after a public outcry over their treatment as the couple had been oblivious to their unwanted human cargo. 

Experienced international lorry driver Gary Probert, 65, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, has told of being fined thousands of pounds for allegedly having an 'unsecured goods vehicle'

Experienced international lorry driver Gary Probert, 65, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, has told of being fined thousands of pounds for allegedly having an ‘unsecured goods vehicle’

His most recent £1,500 fine was over the plastic seal on a cable connecting to his lorry

His most recent £1,500 fine was over the plastic seal on a cable connecting to his lorry

He has been working as a cross-Channel freight driver for 40 years - pictured are hundreds of trucks biund for Britain on the access ramp to the Channel Tunnel in Calais in December 2020

He has been working as a cross-Channel freight driver for 40 years – pictured are hundreds of trucks biund for Britain on the access ramp to the Channel Tunnel in Calais in December 2020

Now Mr Probert says he and many of his fellow cross-Channel lorry drivers should receive leniency themselves, as they face the prospect of ‘life-changing’ financial punishment as they go about their daily journeys.  

The latest fine came after he failed to complete the fixing of a plastic seal on a secure connection between his vehicle and the trailer – which he accepts was his human error, but one that he believes it was unfairly penalised.

He told MailOnline: ‘It can be life-changing, these sums of money.’

Such misdemeanours can land both the driver and the transport firm employing them with separate fines – meaning a double whammy for self-employed drivers who run their own individual firms.

Mr Probert said of the highlighted problem with his lorry’s door: ‘It was failing to click the plastic seal together that cost me £1,500.

‘It’s not proportionate to the nature of the “crime” – well, it’s not a crime. I’d put the seal in place in Dunkirk but forgot to click it just how they say it should be. They said I’d failed to secure it.

‘Border Force refer to it as unsecured – but A, it was padlocked, and B, on checking – as I knew – there were no persons inside.

‘If I decided not to pay, I was warned any vehicle I could be driving through the port in future could be held and impounded – together with the goods on board.’ 

Mr Probert said of the highlighted problem with his lorry's door: 'It was failing to click the plastic seal together that cost me £1,500'

Mr Probert said of the highlighted problem with his lorry’s door: ‘It was failing to click the plastic seal together that cost me £1,500’

He says the lorry remained safely padlocked and the cable was connected but was deemed not to have 'clicked' correctly into place

He says the lorry remained safely padlocked and the cable was connected but was deemed not to have ‘clicked’ correctly into place

The plastic seal clips on to a security cable which runs along the back of his lorry, running through a buckle.

He said: ‘The fatal day I got done, I locked the trailer with a padlock – the trailer was fully padlocked, but I forgot to snap the seal on the two ends of the cord. That was my mistake, which I admit to, and that cost me £1,500.’ 

Mr Probert claimed that vehicles with British registration plates were more likely to face penalties, deemed more likely to be pursued for payment rather than counterparts based overseas.

Mr Probert said: ‘They never prosecute or detain foreign vehicles for failing to secure the plastic seal – we see many on the ferry and, when you ask them, they have never been challenged.

‘It is because it’s harder to get the money off foreign registration trucks’ firms.

‘If they detain a foreign vehicle, they have the problem of, where is the driver going to sleep? What can we do with him?

‘If it’s a driver with a UK home address, it’s not a problem – and not a level playing field at all.

‘I’ve done this job for 40 years and I’ve loved it – but now I want to pack it up. The job’s being ruined.  

Gary Probert regularly travels back and forth across the Channel delivering goods

Gary Probert regularly travels back and forth across the Channel delivering goods

He demonstrated how his vehicle was padlocked and no one could get inside nor had done so

He demonstrated how his vehicle was padlocked and no one could get inside nor had done so

He said of the Fentons’ case and their financial penalty being waived: ‘I’m happy for them. But we get fined every time – every single time.’ 

Mr Probert recalled of the incident three years ago in which two asylum seekers ‘sliced the roof open with a Stanley knife’, how he reported it to ferry officials as well as Border Force staff at the time.

He said: ‘The only way they could have got in was by coming in through the roof. I could prove my trailer was locked.

‘Staff said, “We believe you” – then eight months later I get a summons for £1,500.’ 

In the case of caravan owners Mr and Mrs Fenton, they were taken aback to discover a Sudanese man inside the rain cover of their bike rack when they arrived back at their Essex home following a long drive back from Calais. 

The couple immediately called police, who took the man away for processing.

Yet just over two months later, the pair were issued with a £1,500 fine by the Home Office for failing to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’ in the camper van.

Amid widespread astonishment at their punishment, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last month said he was ‘concerned’ about this case, and it was ‘important’ that it was looked into.

The plastic seal demonstrated by Gary Probert clips on to a security cable which runs along the back of his lorry, running through buckles

The plastic seal demonstrated by Gary Probert clips on to a security cable which runs along the back of his lorry, running through buckles

He has previously been fined after migrants appeared to have sliced their way into his vehicle by taking a knife to plastic sheeting on the roof

He has previously been fined after migrants appeared to have sliced their way into his vehicle by taking a knife to plastic sheeting on the roof

Mr Fenton then told MailOnline how the Home Office subsequently waived the fine – although without cancelling the penalty.

He said: ‘We’re obviously both really pleased that the fine is being rescinded and very grateful for all the public support we’ve had.

‘But we still believe the law should be changed so innocent holidaymakers like us don’t get caught up in the same trap as we did and fined.’

The couple had bought the campervan after Mr Fenton retired following a 28-year career with the London Fire Brigade which saw him rise to become assistant deputy chief commissioner.

The shock stowaway discovery came after Mr and Mrs Fenton returned to their home in Heybridge, Essex, on October 15 last year after a four-day trip to the Champagne region of France – their first journey abroad in the vehicle.

The Fentons believe the man zipped his way inside the bike carrier after they stopped at a French supermarket before getting onto the shuttle ferry to come back home.

Mr Fenton, 55, told how they were unpacking after the trip when he unzipped the cover and spotted ‘two white trainers’ with ‘legs attached to them’.

Realising there was a stowaway ‘contorted’ around their bikes, he immediately shouted at his wife to call the police, saying he was ‘thinking of the guy’s welfare, and of our safety’.

Joanne and Adrian Fenton were ordered to pay £1,500 by the Home Office when they reported a migrant clinging to the back of their motorhome after returning from France

Joanne and Adrian Fenton were ordered to pay £1,500 by the Home Office when they reported a migrant clinging to the back of their motorhome after returning from France 

Having spotted the Sudanese migrant, Mr Fenton immediately shouted at his wife to call the police, saying he was ¿thinking of the guy's welfare, and of our safety¿

Having spotted the Sudanese migrant, Mr Fenton immediately shouted at his wife to call the police, saying he was ¿thinking of the guy’s welfare, and of our safety¿

Mr Fenton added: ‘I didn’t know whether he was on drugs, whether he had a weapon. This was our home.’

When police arrived to process the intruder, Mr Fenton followed his training as a first responder to video what followed ‘purely for evidential reasons’ – footage which helped the encounter go viral.

Officers at the scene treated the couple as the victims of crime – right down to establishing a crime incident number should they need to make a claim about damage to property.

But then instead of being thanked by the authorities for their civic mindedness, the Fentons were contacted by the Home Office in February and told they were going to be fined £1,500.

Officials cited asylum and immigration legislation – legislation introduced in 2023 that the Fentons knew applied to lorry drivers, but had no idea was relevant to them.

They were told it had been their responsibility to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’ in their vehicle.

When asked for comment before the fine was waived, the Home Office said penalties – which can be up to a maximum of £10,000 – were ‘designed to target negligence rather than criminality’.

They stressed that contacting the authorities was a ‘huge mitigating factor’ in how people are dealt with in these cases.

The couple were left fearing the bizarre and unfair outcome would prevent people from 'doing the right thing' if they found themselves in a similar situation

The couple were left fearing the bizarre and unfair outcome would prevent people from ‘doing the right thing’ if they found themselves in a similar situation

Pictured: The bike rack on the back of the motorhome, which they bought after Mr Fenton retired following a 28-year career with the London Fire Brigade

Pictured: The bike rack on the back of the motorhome, which they bought after Mr Fenton retired following a 28-year career with the London Fire Brigade 

A spokesperson said: ‘Responsible persons who have fully complied with the actions laid out in the carriers liability amendment regulations of 2023 will receive a reduced penalty. The scheme is designed to target negligence, rather than criminality.

‘We would expect drivers who are actively involved in people smuggling to be investigated and prosecuted in the courts.

‘Increased fines, new maximum penalty levels and a new penalty for failing to adequately secure a goods vehicle came into force on February 13, 2023, to prevent dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK.’

MailOnline has contacted the Home Office regarding Mr Probert’s complaints. 

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