Stunned children returned from a school trip to France on the weekend to discover two migrants in the luggage compartment of their coach.
The school bus returned to Hounsdown School in Southampton, Hampshire, on Saturday but found two unexpected passengers hiding with the luggage below.
Teachers, parents and the Year 9 and 10 pupils were shocked to find two men, thought to be in their early 20s, hiding with their bags after they returned from a three-day trip to France.
The children’s belongings were ‘crumpled’ and one parent said her son’s bag was ‘covered in urine’.
A mother said she went into ‘panic mode’ and said ‘excusez moi’ to one of the men so she could reach past to get her child’s bag.
Police were called to the incident but no arrests have been made, but a spokesperson said they were ‘possibly illegal immigrants’.
But the Home Office refused to clarify whether the two men had been detained.
A school bus returned to Hounsdown School in Southampton, Hampshire on Saturday but found two unexpected passengers hiding with the luggage below
Pictured is Hounsdown School, where the pupils returned after their trip to France
The schoolchildren had been visiting Boulogne University about 20 miles south of Calais.
The teachers and pupils had travelled home on the coach via the Eurotunnel at Calais, returning to Totton, near Southampton, on Saturday evening.
One mother described the incident as ‘horrendous’, and it was said one of the men tried to run off but was stopped by parents.
Describing the moment the men were found, the mother said: ‘[My son’s] luggage was covered in urine and his belongings crumpled by one of the men being on top of it.
‘I asked them (in French) if they spoke English or French and they replied French, I was about to ask them where they’d come from but got ushered away by the teachers.’
Following the discovery, she panicked and her only thought was to grab her 14-year-old son’s baggage from the coach.
She said: ‘The only way I can describe it is panic mode.
‘My one aim was to get my child off the bus, and once I had I went back as I couldn’t handle seeing kids being asked to take their baggage out of the hold.
‘I just said ‘excuse-moi’ to the gent and leaned over him to get the rest of the bags out as my son’s was tucked underneath him.’
Posting on social media, another parent said: ‘Just picked my daughter up from her school trip to France. The coach driver opened up the bottom to get the suitcases and found three immigrants sat in there.’
Several parents who saw the incident have told of their shock.
‘They looked completely fine and comfy,’ one said on social media.
‘Not being funny but I’m angry about it. They got access to a coach carrying school children.
‘It’s one thing to get in a lorry but a very different thing to manage to get in to a coach without being seen.’
He added: ‘Was an absolute shocker to see a person sat there as the kids went forward to get their bags.’
Another parent said: ‘My son is so upset bless him, he’s told me to cancel him going away next year with the school and has said he’d rather wait until he can pay to go when he’s older.
‘The teachers couldn’t have done a better job the whole way through, I really do feel for them right now.’
Another mother, Tabi, told the BBC: ‘My daughter came running over and she said ‘there’s people sat in where the suitcases are’.
‘Obviously it’s quite concerning because there were 36 children on the coach and no one was aware that they were there.
‘I understand these immigrants are wanting a better life but it’s not very good targeting a coach full of children.’
A Hampshire Police spokesperson said: ‘We were called just before 5.15pm on Saturday 10 February to reports that two people, who were possibly illegal immigrants, had been found at Hounsdown School in Totton. Officers have attended. No arrests have been made.’
MailOnline has contacted Hounsdown School for comment.
Under Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan, which has yet to be carried out, asylum seekers who cross the English Channel in small, inflatable boats would be sent on planes to Rwanda
The Border Force vessel Typhoon carrying migrants arrives at the Dover Docks today. One picture showed a migrant wrapped in a foil blanket being pushed in a wheelchair
It comes after 120 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, bringing total number of arrivals this year to 1,506. Pictures taken at the Dover Docks yesterday
It comes after more than 120 migrants crossed the Channel in three small boats on Saturday, bringing total number of arrivals this year to 1,506.
A total of 124 migrants made the dangerous crossing across the choppy waters, the Home Office confirmed.
The total figure for arrivals this year is down from the 2,072 by the same point in 2023 but up from 1,339 in 2022.
The total for the number who were intercepted by the Border Force for this week is 171 while the highest number who crossed in a single day so far this year was 358 on January 17.
Apart from the crossings on Saturday and Thursday, small boats had not been intercepted since January 31.
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