THE driver of a lorry carrying 15 illegal immigrants who ran into a main road in North Yorkshire has been arrested.

North Yorkshire Police have been searching the North Yorkshire countryside for five men following reports that up to 15 people disembarked from a lorry on the A168, close to the A1M near Boroughbridge, at about 6.40pm on Thursday.

On Friday, the 49-year-old Lithuanian lorry driver been arrested on suspicion of an immigration offence, and has been released on police bail while enquiries continue.

Three other men aged 20, 24 and 29, of no fixed address but believed to be from the Kurdish region of the Middle East have also been arrested on suspicion of illegally entering the UK. They are now in the custody of the Visa and Immigration service.

A mother and three children, a young woman and a single mother with two children were taken to Harrogate Police Station and have since been transferred into the care of the local authority, police said.

Searches for the five missing men will continue today, and local residents have been urged to check their outbuildings and sheds for any signs of occupation.

A police spokeswoman said the five men had been reported as walking north along the A1 and despite extensive searches, including the assistance of the National Police Air Service, they had still not been found.

Police have today carried out house to house enquiries in the area and searches of land using specialist search teams and sniffer dogs. The searches have now concluded.

A number of people have come forward to report potential sightings of the men, however, many of the reports have turned out to be calls made with good intent, but were not the people the police were looking for.

Police have appealed for anyone who had witnessed people walking alongside the A1M or A168, in the Minskip and Boroughbridge area, to contact the force on 101 and speak to the Force Control Room.

Anyone who sees the men is urged to call 999.