Beverley Hughes

Ministers have warned hauliers they face steep fines for transporting asylum seekers into the UK.

The warning came as the second group of refugees from the Sangatte refugee camp arrived in Britain.

On Friday night around 80 people had been expected to cross the Channel, the second wave of a total of 1200 people that Britain will eventually allow entry to on work permits.

But as ministers allowed some refugees entry as part of their deal to close the Sangatte Red Cross camp, there was a warning to hauliers not to allow their vehicles to be used by other clandestine illegal immigrants.

On Saturday new flexible penalties for hauliers and other carriers bringing illegal immigrants into the country came into force.

The government says the revised system will act as a "powerful deterrent" to those seeking access to the UK by hiding in lorries and other transporters.

A new penalty system will take into account factors such as the degree of care that hauliers have taken to prevent illegal immigrants from hiding in their transporters.

The revised civil penalty scheme was introduced after the Court of Appeal backed a legal challenge against the civil penalty provisions in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

Now, where all reasonable steps have been taken, no penalty will be imposed.

But those deemed to have failed to properly secure and check their transporters be liable to pay a penalty of up to £2000 for each clandestine entrant found in their vehicle

"We are determined...to encourage operators to secure their transporters properly," said Home Office minister Beverley Hughes.

"It is wholly reasonable to expect hauliers and other carriers to take responsibility for the security of their lorries or transporters and take effective measures to prevent clandestine entrants being brought to the UK."She said the new system would be "both fair and robust".