Police find children in boot of car as family of seven pulled over on motorway

Two teenagers were found in the boot of a car after a family of seven were pulled over by police on a motorway.

Police said they stopped the Volkswagen Arteon after passers-by raised the alarm about “two children in the boot” of a car on the M6.

The two teenagers, aged 13 and 16, were found sitting upright inside the boot, which was padded with blankets and jackets and fitted with an air freshener.

Five other passengers were in the car at the time, which is designed to hold five adults.

Officers said the family were going on holiday, and the driver has now been reported for “carrying two passengers with no seatbelts and using a vehicle for unsuitable purpose”.

The car was taken off the carriageway at junction 20 for Lymm Interchange.

North West Motorway Police said: “VW Arteon stopped following report of X7 people on board, 2 children in the boot. Vehicle sighted on the M6, taken off Junction 20.

‘Driver reported for 3 offences, carrying 2 passengers with no seatbelts and using a vehicle for an unsuitable purpose. Family going on holiday.”

Cheshire Police said: “At 9.55am on Tuesday 26 July, police received reports of an over-laden vehicle travelling on the M6 northbound through Cheshire.

“Officers stopped the black VW Arteon near to Junction 20 and found that there were seven people inside the five-seater car – including two children, aged 13 and 16, who were sitting in the boot.

“The driver of the car was reported for two counts of carrying a passenger without a seatbelt and one count of using a vehicle for an unsuitable purpose.”

It comes after two men were jailed in July for smuggling seven Indian migrants, including women and children, into the UK in the boots of their cars.