SUSPECTED illegal immigrants have been arrested after jumping out of a lorry in a Hampshire town.

Police alerted UK Border Agency officers when people were seen jumping from a lorry in Alresford, near Winchester.

Seven people - six men and one possible minor - were arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.

The lorry was seen at the junction of Alresford Road and Bighton Lane by eye witnesses at around 1pm yesterday.

Witness Luke Sneader, 27, from Chandler’s Ford, said: “I had a front row seat when the police closed the road over the dam at Old Alresford Pond.

“I saw four of them in handcuffs. They were taken out of one van and put in another by the police. What was going on, I'm not sure.

“They weren't struggling; they knew they had been caught.”

Paul Gilmore from Alresford Travel said he saw police activity at 12.30pm and later saw a police van with blacked out windows pick up four people on the road.

A border agency spokesperson, said: “Six men from Afghanistan were arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally; the group also had one possible minor, who is yet to be age checked.”

The men are currently in custody. Witnesses said they saw up to nine people flee the van, but the spokesman could not confirm nor deny this or if they were looking for any more people.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman confirmed they attended an incident with UK Border Agency officers, but would not provide any more information when asked.