Two Romanians caught attempting to smuggle Afghan migrants across the Channel to Britain in the boots of their cars have been jailed by a court in Boulogne on the French coast.

Ionica Doru Cicea, 22, was arrested on Monday in Calais after two women were discovered in the boot of his Volkswagen Passat.

A second man, Dumitru Vaduva, aged 60, was handed over to the French authorities by British Border Police after they found a three year old child accompanied by his parents - again in the boot of a car, a Citroen Picasso.

Smuggling: The two men were jailed for smuggling Afghans in their boot. Pictured is the scene at Calais this week, where would-be migrants try their luck on lorries headed over the border

The court heard that investigators established links between the two cases.

On both the phones of the two defendants the same number - of a man living in Britain known as ‘Christie’- was found.

At first Christie was believed to be Indian but later turned out to be Romanian. He allegedly paid the smugglers to drive the migrants onto the ferry and across the Channel.

The court heard that a third vehicle accompanied the two defendant’s cars and was intending to monitor the operation.

The migrants were allowed to sit on the back seat of the vehicles but as they approached border control posts they were ordered to get into the boot where breathing was difficult in the confined space.

One of the defendants was paid £800 for his part in the operation and the other was told he could keep the car he used for the operation.

The judge was told that Vaduva has a previous conviction in 2002.

Operation: The court heard that three cars were involved in the smuggling attempt. Pictured above are more hopefuls camped outside Calais

He jailed Cicea for 10 months and Vaduva for one year.

A source in Boulogne confirmed last night that the migrants were all of Afghan nationality and had been released after questioning.

The Boulogne prosecutor told the court: ‘The family of three persons (parents plus child) had been arrested and questioned by Police three times in ten days.

‘Needless to say,that the smugglers who took them belong doubtless to the same organisation. The two defendants knew exactlywhat they were doing.