Baby and children found in chilled potato lorry

It is understood the lorry had come from Spain and was delivering sweet potatoes to the factory

A baby and two children were among 15 suspected illegal immigrants found in a chilled potato truck.

The discovery was made on Tuesday afternoon at the Albert Bartlett factory in Worstead, a site formerly owned by Heinz.

East of England Ambulance Service said all 15 people were treated, including one man for a hand injury.

The Home Office has confirmed the driver of the truck has been arrested on "suspicion of facilitation."

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The lorry had come from Spain and was delivering sweet potatoes to the factory.

The Spanish company which owns the chilled potato truck has criticised the way the immigration crisis is hitting hauliers.

A spokesman for Transportes Valiente SC said the lorry had been sealed when it left its base in Spain on Saturday.

He said: "We give our drivers a specific training and mandatory procedure to follow when travelling to the United Kingdom, in order to avoid the problem of influx of immigrants into trucks.

"Despite all these preventative procedures, the problem of immigrants is such that as carriers we feel helpless and unprotected by the authorities."

The 15 people, whose countries of origin are not yet known, are now in the care of the Home Office and their cases are being handled by Immigration Enforcement.

Norfolk Police say the 15 people are now in the care of the Home Office

Albert Bartlett is yet to comment.

Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk, said the people on the lorry must be "pretty desperate to make the journey in a chilled lorry" and called for an international effort to disrupt people trafficking networks.

"Concerted efforts are needed to help these countries get back on their feet so people don't feel so desperate to make those journeys," the Lib Dem MP said.