A builder on his way to work claims to have found an illegal immigrant asleep in his car.

The 51-year-old worker, who did not wish to be named, filmed the moment he confronted the dishevelled man, who had even taken his shoes off to get comfortable before nodding off.

The mobile phone footage shows the builder opening the back door of his silver car after spotting the intruder through the rear passenger window in Basildon, Essex.

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Shock discovery: A man uses his mobile to film the moment he finds a man, who he believed to be an illegal immigrant, asleep in his car

The man, who was wearing a tracksuit, sits up as he awakes and mumbles broken English in what appears to be an eastern European accent.

The motorist, who gave the video to the Sunday People, is then seen angrily ordering the man out of his vehicle.

As the sleepy man apologises, the driver says: 'Get out of my car or I'll smash you up. Get out of it. I'll smash you up if you don't get out of my car. Now f*** off.'

Clambering out of the car as he starts to put his shoes back on, the man seems to try to explain that he lives nearby with his sister but entered the car because he was tired.

The man added that he got into the car by using keys, but cannot explain how he came across keys for the building site worker's vehicle.

He says: 'I'm sorry mate, so sorry mate. I'm new. I live with my sister. I was just so tired.'

The builder, who was trying to drive to work in Croydon, south London, said: 'It was unbelievable. I’ve no idea how he got in there. I’ve got five alarms.

Wakey wakey! The man eventually gets out of the car with his trainers clutched in his hand

Bizarre explanation: The man said that he got into the car by using keys, but cannot explain how he came across keys for the building site worker's vehicle

'God knows what he was up to. He could well have been an illegal immigrant. I’ve no idea where he came from or how he got in my car.'

The man in the car has not been reported to the police.

The crisis in Calais has seen more than 5,000 attempts by migrants to cross the border via the Channel Tunnel.

While most fail in their desperate attempts to make it to Britain, others have made it only to be caught in unusual places.

A suspected Sudanese migrant was found under a horsebox at the All England Jumping Course in Hickstead, West Sussex, on Tuesday evening.

Workers at the showground - one of the best equestrian venues in the world - found the suspected migrant as the ramps were being pulled down on the truck.

A dozen suspected immigrants were found stashed in the back of a beer truck on the M20 near Ashford, Kent, on Thursday.