Nine illegal immigrants were discovered in the back of a food lorry, with two ending up in hospital after their travelling ordeal.

Three of the passengers, thought to have been discovered beneath boxes of fruit, were under 18 and were handed over to social services.

A member of the public alerted police officers to the Spanish-registered lorry after reportedly seeing someone in among its cargo.

The vehicle, which had been driven from Calais, was discovered in Pagham Road, Pagham, near Bognor, at about 11.45am on Wednesday.

The HGV driver, a 30-year-old Spanish man, was not arrested. His stowaways were detained by Sussex Police, which contacted Home Office Immigration Enforcement about an hour and a half after the discovery.

Police arrested all nine on suspicion of entering the country illegally. They included six men: a 38-year-old Sudanese national, Iraqis aged 24 and 25 and Iranians aged 23, 24 and 32.

The three under-18 males were a Sudanese national and two Iraqis, one of whom is 16.

Two of the immigrants were taken to St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester with sickness after their journey, while the other seven were checked over at the scene.

An ambulance spokesman said there was the potential for lorry stowaways to become dehydrated.

He added: “They were not in a life-threatening condition.”

The adults remained in police custody but were due to be transferred to immigration detention for further questioning while the minors remained in social care.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We work closely with the police to tackle illegal immigration and continue to strengthen the security of our border to stop those who have no right to enter the UK.

“If people have a genuine need of protection they should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

“If they are just seeking to evade immigration control they need to know they are risking their lives and that they will get caught.

“The new Immigration Act makes it harder for people to live in the UK illegally.

“It makes it harder for illegal immigrants to abuse our benefits and public services, and makes it easier for us to remove them by reducing the number of appeals.”

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can email gov.uk/ report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.