NINE Vietnamese teenagers have been taken into care after they were found inside a lorry at Newhaven Port.

A 25-year-old lorry driver and 50-year-old Vietnamese man were arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration after the lorry was searched by UK Border Force officials after arriving at the port .

The teenagers - five girls aged between 14 and 17, and four boys aged 15, 16, 16 and 17 - have been placed into foster care in Sussex.

Lewes MP Maria Caulfield, whose constituency covers the site, said she believed the teenagers were found during routine checks, which have been stepped up as a result of the crisis in Calais with migrants trying to get across to England.

She said: "The port has obviously stepped up border control with everything that has been happening in Calais or Dover.

"They were found in the lorry as part of routine checks and the teenagers have now been put into care.

"They need to be cared for but it just shows the lengths that people will go to, to try and get into the country."

She said she did not believe they were in poor health when found but added, "if the lorry had not been opened, if they had not been discovered, who knows what health condition they might have been in."

Jenny Lansdell, chairman of Sanctuary on Sea in Brighton, the movement which aims to welcome migrants, said it was important the teenagers were treated with the "respect and dignity they deserve" and should be given English lessons immediately if needed.

The teenagers were found on July 21, but the incident only came to light now after it was mentioned by the Deputy Chief Constable, Olivia Pinkney, at a meeting on Friday.

She said the incident was "very rare" for Sussex.

She added: "We are alive to the fact that with heightened security at Calais people may disperse.

"My sense at the moment is that it's not a route through which they are coming."

A Sussex Police spokesman said they were informed of the incident at the time by the UK Border Force, adding the two men "were taken to Sussex Police custody centres but this case is being investigated by UK Border Agency."

The police also helped make sure the teenagers were put into foster care.

The Home Office was unable to provide further information yesterday afternoon on what had since happened to the men who had been detained.