AN "illegal immigrant" has escaped after arriving in East Lancashire strapped to the underside of a lorry.

A spokesperson for William Blythe Chemicals, Church, which also has a factory in Hapton, said one of their drivers had reported seeing a man emerge from underneath his vehicle as he stopped on a weigh bridge at the entrance to their factory.

The man, believed to be white, heavily built and in his 30s, ran off and lost his shirt as he jumped over a barbed wire fence to escape.

He was next seen by a passer-by wet and hiding in a coke shed on the canal banking at Church wearing only jeans and trainers and the police were called.

The Blythe spokesman said: "This person just appeared from underneath the lorry and made a dash for it. He must have hurt himself as he jumped over the fence as his shirt was ripped off and left on the fence. This happened just outside the factory as the driver stopped at the weigh bridge and we suspect he might be an illegal immigrant.

"The articulated lorry had been abroad and was empty and had come from one of the ports, either Dover or Felixstowe, to load up.

"We do not know whether the man had been under there from then or whether he had climbed on at one of the truck stops on the road.

"The police were thorough in searching for him but who he is and where he came from is a mystery."

The incident happened at around 7.30am and four police teams were dispatched to search the area for the man.

Sgt Nick Williams-Jones said: "Police patrols were on the scene within six minutes of the call being made by the passer-by. It is understood the man had approached him and asked him to get him a shirt to put on.

"Patrols searched the area for over an hour and did not find anybody and no signs of this man could be found.

"In the absence of any offences actually being committed the officers resumed their patrols.

"We get strange incidents from time to time and this was certainly one of them."

The man has so far not been traced following the incident, last month.