Concerns around driver safety and food waste linked to clandestine entrant incidents are growing.  The number of lorry stowaways caught entering the UK is at its highest since 2019, exclusive Border Force data shows.

The number of people caught attempting to illegally enter the country in the backs of trucks in the first four months of 2024 rose to 621, nearly three times as many as the 266 clandestine entrants caught in the first four months of last year.  There were a total 163 recorded instances when a commercial vehicle was discovered to contain people – a 91% increase on the same period in 2023, which saw 85 cases.

It comes amid heightened concern in the logistics sector of the impact of increasing numbers of clandestine entrant incidents on driver safety.

The logistics sector has also warned of the amounts of food waste resulting from people infiltrating the back of commercial vehicles.  Aside from the political and human challenge associated with clandestine infiltration, where people desperate to reach the UK are stowing away on trucks destined for the UK, the environmental and moral impact of wasted food is something that often gets overlooked.

Many brand owners or distributors quite rightly have concerns over food safety implications when unauthorised access to a vehicle has occurred.  Delays in vehicle movements can also result in stock falling out of date rotation, leading to a similar food disposal outcome. An estimate is that more than 60,000 tonnes of good food goes to waste each year due to clandestine entrant incidents.