Four charged as 29 Vietnamese people found in van on M5 Published duration 14 April 2019

image caption The van was stopped near Cullompton, in Devon, on Friday at about 09:00 BST

Four men have been charged with human trafficking after 29 Vietnamese people were found in the back of a van stopped by police on the M5.

Devon and Cornwall Police arrested the men aged 55 to 72 after people were seen getting into the back of a van from a boat in Newlyn, Cornwall.

The van was stopped near Cullompton, in Devon, on Friday at about 09:00 BST.

The men, from Kent and Lancashire will appear before magistrates in Truro, Cornwall, on Monday.

Police said a mix of men, women and children were among the 29 people.

image copyright Devon & Cornwall Police image caption The van was stopped on the M5 near junction 28

Frank Walling, 72, from Colne, Lancashire, Glen Martin Bennett, 55, from Burnley, Lancashire, Jon Ransom, 63, from Kent and 62-year-old Keith Royston Plummer, from Sheerness, Kent, have all been charged with human trafficking under the Modern Slavery Act.

The are also charged with assisting unlawful immigration.

A force spokesman said the foreign nationals had been taken to a specially-created centre where they were being taken care of.