Soldiers brought in to help monitor Dutch ports for stowaways

Members of the armed forces have been drafted in to check cars and lorries heading to England from Dutch ports following a sharp rise in attempts by stowaways to reach Britain.

In total, 32 soldiers have been seconded to Hoek van Holland, Europoort and IJmuiden for spot checks on vehicles to run until October, the Telegraaf says on Monday.

In the first four months of this year, nearly 500 people were caught attempting to reach Britain via the Dutch ports. That is about the same number as in 2015 as a whole, the Telegraaf reports.

Of them, around 220 were from Albania and 110 from Afghanistan.

Despite the increase, there are no signs that people are moving north from Calais to the Netherlands in an effort to enter Britain, a justice ministry spokesman told the paper.