Small corner shops and restaurants are being used to deposit vast sums of money to smuggle people into the UK before being transferred to criminal masterminds abroad, an investigation has found.

A Birmingham shopkeeper told undercover reporters how he was part of a racket to transport migrants into the country in small boats from northern France.

Revealing how the process works, the shopkeeper said he should be given money, which he would hold as a deposit until the migrant safely arrives in the UK – and then he would send the cash to Pakistan.

Yesterday a smuggler, known only as Farooq, living in a camp in Calais, northern France, boasted how he can get any migrant across the Channel in the UK for £7,000-a-time, in the first part of the investigation for LBC.

This shopkeeper told undercover investigators for LBC posing a relatives trying to get a migrant into the UK that he'd hold onto a £6,000 deposit until the refugee reaches the country

A people smuggler named 'Farooq' operating in northern France had given the investigators the addresses of fours shops and restaurants who would hold on to the money for him

Farooq identified four shopkeepers and restaurant owners in Birmingham and London working as agents for his human trafficking network.

Details of the locations of the shops and restaurants were sent to the undercover reporter by Farooq via encrypted social media network WhatApp.

Farooq told the undercover reporter posing as an immigrant that he should be paid £1,000 direct by Moneygram.

The remaining £6,000 should be paid to an agent in the UK who would hold onto the money until the migrant safely arrives in the UK.

The newsagent in Birmingham initially denied knowledge of the process, but when a customer left his shop he explained in detail how the process worked.

He told the undercover journalist posing as a relative trying to get a migrant into Britain: 'Leave the money with me. And when he comes here, I will give money to him.'

The shopkeeper working in Birmingham (above) told investigators that once the migrant reaches the UK he would then send the deposit to criminal trafficking gangs in Pakistan

Farooq sent details of the four locations of the shops and restaurants working with him to the undercover reporter via encrypted social media network WhatApp

The shopkeeper says that he will hold onto the money until the refugee reaches Britain.

The journalist tells him: 'If the guy come here, he is gonna put him on a boat. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow night.'

When the shopkeeper mentions the police, the journalist says: 'It doesn't matter. In fact is good if the police catch him. Because they have to take him to the centre and they claim asylum, and then they release.

The shopkeeper says: 'Okay.'

The pair discuss the transaction before the shopkeeper says: 'If you need money back then you have to tell me two days before.

'I keep the cash because going to banks over here is too dangerous.'

In part one of the investigation, trafficker Farooq boasted how he has smuggled hundreds of migrants into the UK in small boats from northern France.

And he told how dozens of people cross the Channel almost every night. He even claimed that French people helped them by warning about British border patrols and turning a blind eye to their illegal activities.

He revealed how stowaways must sleep rough in his makeshift camp in the woods until all aspects of the journey has been prepared he will cross the channel with Kurdish smugglers.

Farooq drew a map showing how he would get the boat into British waters where police officers would then arrest migrants before taking them to a hotel where they could flee

The boats are prepared by members of his gang. After being pointed in the direction of the British coastline, they are told not to stop until they cross into UK waters where they will be rescued.

He said that the migrants will be rescued by the UK police as soon as they reach British waters.

Traffickers operating along the coast of northern France – where around 2,000 people are camped - are hiking up prices and telling families they must leave France for the UK now because further delays will make the journey impossible.

While prices to cross the Channel are usually £3,000 to £4,000 per person, that figure has risen as record numbers of migrants are flocking to the UK to beat the Brexit deadline.

The perfect storm of conditions is pushing up prices and leading greedy people smuggleers like Farooq charging around £7,000 to get from France to the UK across the Channel

The last official refuge – a former sports field and gym, at Grande-Synthe near Dunkirk, that was home to 1,200 men, women and children – was torn down earlier this month in a huge police operation.

The Home Office and the French authorities have launched investigations into claims highlighted by the undercover operation.

To hear more about LBC's undercover investigation, tune in to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast (weekdays 7am to 10am) on LBC, available nationwide on DAB digital radio/TV and the LBC and Global Player apps.