68 suspected illegal immigrants including two pregnant women and 15 children have been found locked in cargo containers shipped into Harwich International Port last night.

Four Polish lorry drivers have today been arrested on suspicion of smuggling them into Britain from Holland on the Stena Hollandica super-ferry.

Home Office officials said today the group of 53 adults and 15 children included 35 from Afghanistan, 22 from China, 10 from Vietnam and one person from Russia.

Seven of the stowaways were taken to Colchester General Hospital in Essex for treatment after complaining of abdominal pains and chest pains caused by the cramped conditions.

All the suspected illegal immigrants have been assessed and have now been handed to UK Border Force officials.

Today, it emerged they had been found in trucks full of Polish washing machines.

Taken away: One of the suspected illegal immigrants (pictured being led away by immigration officers today) who was found locked in cargo containers shipped into Harwich International Port last night

Packed: Among the 68 people in the cargo containers were two pregnant women and 15 children

Control: Members of the Border Force help deal with the suspected illegal immigrants at Harwich today

Investigation: This is believed to be one of the four lorries that the group of 68 suspected illegal immigrants were allegedly smuggled in to the UK

Discovery: 68 people including two pregnant women have been found locked in a cargo container shipped into Harwich in a Stena ship, the Hollandica. Pictured is the sister ship, the Britannica today

Operation: Border force agents have been sent to deal with the huge group who arrived in the UK in containers last night

Experts said today they were lucky to be alive and may have been crammed into the container for days with little food or water.

The route between Holland and Harwich has been described as a 'carousel system' for immigrants who come to Britain, are deported back to the Netherlands and then try to sneak back again.

Today, Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and North Essex, Bernard Jenkin, said Border Force is going to need more resources and more investment in order to deal with the rising tide of people attempting to enter the UK illegally.

He said: 'These people will have been put in their truck way away from the port they came through, the Hook of Holland.

'They'll have been in sealed trucks. In fact, they were in trucks full of Polish washing machines.

'Some of them were discovered by simply opening the truck and having a look. Some of them were found with the scanners.

'The message I'm taking out of this is, with the huge increase of people pressing to get into the United Kingdom, Border Force is going to need more resources and more investment and equipment.'

He added: 'This is a very big success for the Border Force.

'This is one of the biggest single finds of clandestines coming into the UK in this fashion.

'It is bigger than anything that has been found in Dover or any other ports.

'It is a great credit to them that they have handled this very efficiently and very calmly.

'I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to them and I have brought them a message from the Home Security and she is delighted they have performed so well.'

Mr Jenkin also called for reform of Schengen area which allows open borders between countries in mainland Europe. He said: 'These open borders across Europe are a gift to migrants'.

'The Border force is very much intelligence led. They only have resource to check six per cent of lorry traffic.

'There has been investment in new equipment like carbon dioxide lances which they can poke into lorries to see if people are breathing on there and scanners which can image the bodies through the side of lorries.

'But they try and target the trucks they think are most likely to be carrying migrants. There have been previous finds in Polish-operated lorries and it comes as nor surprise that these lorries were Polish-operated.

It emerged the individuals were found in cargo containers full of Polish washing machines

Held: All 68 discovered have now been handed over to the UK Border Agency and are believed still to be in Harwich while they are interviewed

Probe: Officials have parked up the lorries and are said to be gathering evidence inside the containers

'We don't check every lorry - 94 per cent of trucks go unchecked so it is perfectly possible more migrants got through.

'The message should go out to migrants that if they get this far, they are still likely to get caught. But with the huge increase of people pressing to get into the UK, the Border Force is going to need more resources and more equipment.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'We can confirm Border Force officers discovered 53 adults and 15 children during a proactive search of four lorries which had arrived at Harwich port from Holland on Thursday evening.

'Seven of those discovered were taken to hospital as a precaution, before being released. All 68 individuals are now in the care of Border Force.

'Four Polish nationals, who were driving the vehicles, have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration. They have been taken to separate police stations and will now be questioned by the Home Office's criminal investigations team while enquiries continue.'

East of England Ambulance Service said they were called after the container was discovered at around 10pm last night.

Gold commander Matt Broad said that six ambulances, two rapid response vehicles, and three units from the Trust's Hazardous Area Response Team were sent.

An ambulance service spokesman said: 'The patients who were taken to hospital were suffering from abdominal and chest pains and were feeling faint. None are in a life-threatening or serious condition'.

They were all squeezed into lorries heading to the UK on the Stena Hollandica ferry. It is one of Europe's largest and most modern ferries that takes containers and passengers.

At around lunchtime Border Agency officials poured into the terminal where the individuals are believed to be being held.

Some of the group could be deported as soon as this evening when the Stena Hollandica returns sails from Harwich to the Hook of Holland tonight at 11pm.

It is understood Stena Line will be forced to foot the bill for the deportation of any or all of the immigrants as they were discovered within vehicles carried on the Stena Hollandica.

Today the busy port continued with business as usual as a steady flow of cars and lorries made their way through the entrance gate.

Security around the lorries has been tightened to stop anyone getting near them.

Nationalities: The people caught being smuggled into the UK included 35 Afghans, 22 Chinese, 10 Vietnamese and one Russian national

Investigation: The nationalities of those crammed into the container not known but the 68 people are believed to have been shipped from Holland.

A Stena Line spokesman said: 'Stena Line can confirm that a number of different lorries carrying 68 clandestines were stopped by Border Control at Harwich International Port last night as they disembarked from the Stena Hollandica. Th

'The ship had sailed from the Hook of Holland to Harwich, leaving the Hook of Holland at 1415 and arriving in Harwich at 1945 on Thursday June 4'.

In February last year two illegal immigrants died as they desperately tried to sneak into Britain after jumping into the sea off Harwich.

Albanian Artur Doda, 24, plunged to his death alongside fellow countryman Leonard Isufaj, 27, after jumping from one of the world's largest ferries.

They tried to swim the 500 metres to Harwich but an inquest heard that an Olympic swimmer would have struggled to cope with the cold water and the strong tides.

Mr Doda was sliced to death by a ferry's 'machete-like' propeller and his friend Mr Isufaj drowned.

Giles Young, senior officer with Border Force at Harwich International Port, told Chelmsford Coroners' Court: 'We see a lot of these particular cases and the same people will turn up two or three times.

'We have individuals this year who are already on their second attempt and it is only March.

'The Dutch sometimes release them into Holland and they try again. It's a carousel system.'

In August last year 35 immigrants were discovered in a container at Tilbury Docks in Essex.

One of them, 40-year-old Meet Singh Kapoor, from Afghanistan, was found dead.

The group, whose ages ranged from one to 72, are believed to have fled Afghanistan after suffering persecution.

Pattern: The route between Holland and Harwich, pictured, has been described as a 'carousel system' for immigrants who come to Britain, are deported back to the Netherlands and then try to sneak back again

Gateway: Harwich is once of Britain's main container ports and serves ships from Europe, the Mediterranean and north Africa

Later the same month, one person was taken to hospital after 13 people were found in the back of a lorry at the Dartford Crossing in Kent.

Essex Police said in a statement: 'The ambulance service contacted police at 10.15pm on Thursday June 4 to reports they had been called to deal with 68 patients who had been discovered in containers on a ferry from the Hook of Holland at Harwich Port.

'Essex Police made contact with staff at Border Force, who were already in attendance, and they are taking the lead as the incident relates to immigration offences.

'We are continuing to liaise with Border Force while their inquiries continue.'