Furious Derek Linch has called time on his Continental venture because stowaways can cost his drivers £5,000 in fines every time they are stopped coming back to the UK.

The businessman said he was forced to quit the European mainland because immigration chiefs were routinely slapping fines on his drivers despite them having no idea immigrants were sneaking on board.

The 58-year-old entrepreneur, from Romney Marsh, Kent, said the decision will cost his business – one of the largest independent hauliers in Britain – £400,000 a year. However, he said it was worth losing the trade to prevent his drivers from being branded criminals when they were simply doing their jobs.

He said: “The situation is out of control. In the last four years it has got worse. More and more people are desperate to get into this country.”

The mogul had four vehicles working across Europe out of Dover but he says he has been forced to wind the operation up after one of his drivers was fined £5,000.

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