Shocking footage captures a British family discovering two illegal stowaways hiding in their motorhome as they return from a half-term skiing trip to France.
Brian Perry, his wife Beccy and their two sons, heard a toilet door banging at the rear of their campervan following their holiday in the French Alps.
They pulled over only to find to their horror two men hiding in the back.
The two illegal stowaways, pictured, were found hiding in a British family’s motorhome as they returned from a half-term skiing trip in the French Alps
The video, taken by Mr Perry on Saturday, shows one of the stowaways fumbling around trying to find his bag.
‘What country are you from?’ Mr Perry asks as the migrant repeatedly says he is from Rome, adding: ‘I’m sorry.’
Mr Perry, 41, of Oxford, then finds the other man, with his children heard crying in the background.
One was in their bed covered by a duvet and another in their loo standing behind a shower curtain.
Mr Perry – a traffic officer for Thames Valley Police – began filming them as he forced them out of his van in an Aldi car park in Calais.
He said: ‘I actually deal with stowaways in the back of goods vehicles that have come into the country as I’m on traffic, so we regularly get reports on the motorway network.
‘But nothing prepares you to deal with people in what at the time is your home, having broken in, within feet of your family.
‘Whilst, yes, every day of the week I have no issues climbing into the back of lorries and dealing with people, when it comes to finding them in the back of your van, I’d never experienced anything like it. I don’t think there’s anything that prepares you for that.’
Brian Perry, 41, and his wife Beccy on the week long holiday they took before finding the two stowaways in their campervan during the return journey
Mr Perry (above), a traffic officer for Thames Valley Police, began filming the illegal migrants as he forced them out of the motorhome in an Aldi car park in Calais
The Perry family – including kids Kieran, 12, and James, nine – were on a week-long break in Le Grand-Bornand and had a nine-hour drive home on Saturday.
As they approached Calais they stopped at the Auchan Supermarket at 9pm to buy snacks, returning to their van at 9.20pm.
It is then that the stowaways are thought to have broken into their vehicle using screwdrivers, hiding before the family returned.
Unaware of the intrusion, the Perrys then drove on to the Cité Europe shopping centre where they hoped to stay the night before their 10am Eurotunnel journey to Folkestone in Kent.
But signs told them motorhomes were no longer allowed so they began to drive to a nearby Aldi to see if they could stay in the car park there.
However during the short drive, their van’s toilet door swung open and on closer investigation, Mrs Perry, 40, realised something might be up.
She returned to the front seat perturbed and Mr Perry then pulled over before turning on the rear lights to search the van.
It is thought the stowaways broke into the vehicle using screwdrivers as the family stopped at the Auchan Supermarket in Calais at 9pm
Mr Perry asks ‘how did you get in here?’ before one of the stowaways (pictured) apologises as he fumbles around for his bag before leaving the campervan
Mr Perry explained: ‘The rear bed would normally have the quilt laid on it flat, but I could just see there was this great big pile there under a quilt.
‘I went over to it, put my hand on it, and realised there was someone in there and told them to get out. I then realised I should film for evidence if anything went wrong. He climbed out of the bed and started walking towards me. He then asked to get his bag. There was no threatening behaviour.
‘The other one was in the shower cubicle. I started searching the rest of the van, I even checked the cupboard under the sink. The children were hysterical. My eldest son was shaking the whole night, he couldn’t understand what was going on. He said ‘I’m not cold but I can’t stop shaking.’
‘We were trying to calm him down and my youngest was bawling. My wife has struggled since then. My eldest said he doesn’t want to go skiing again and doesn’t want to go away in the van again.
‘It’s really had a massive massive impact on them.’
The two men left the van before Mr Perry drove to a secure compound next to the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel where they explained their predicament and spent the night.
They caught the Eurotunnel crossing home at 10am on Sunday. Mr Perry now says he wants to warn other families about the threat from migrants entering motorhomes in the area.
He added: ‘We were well aware that there have been issues with goods vehicles and that lorries are a target but we never thought they’d try and get into our vehicle.
‘There has been a minor financial inconvenience but the trauma to my family is worse. It’s my kids, they’re still struggling with it. And it’s just not fair.
‘Anything to prevent other families from going through the same ordeal.’