SUSPECTED illegal immigrants are believed to be hiding out in Basildon after drivers spotted a group of men "pouring out" of a parked lorry.

Police were called to Eastmayne, Basildon, at about 3pm on Saturday after passing drivers raised the alarm.

The Echo reported yesterday officers stopped traffic close to the BP garage, near the junction with Courtauld Road, while they detained two women and two children.

It has since emerged at least two suspected illegal immigrants, who were seen getting out of the back of the lorry before police arrived on the scene, fled towards a nearby housing estate.

Motorist Cheryl Starrs, 58, who lives in Basildon, was overtaking the lorry when she saw two men run out of a hole cut in the side of the lorry's tarpaulin.

She heard the driver, who is thought to be Spanish, shout "Please call police" and immediately pulled over and dialled 999.

She said: "As I was coming level to the back of the lorry, I saw a man climb out and run along the road.

"He scarpered across the dual carriageway and into the bushes. He was looking around everywhere as if to see if anyone was following him."

She described him as aged in his 20s, wearing dark trousers and a grey jumper.

Within five minutes, the Essex Police dog unit had arrived on scene to search for the suspected immigrants.

Ms Starrs added: "All the time, the poor lorry driver was standing guard and saying there was still people in the back of the lorry.

"He seemed really stressed, I did feel for him."

PC Marek Jaworski, from Basildon's community policing team, is urging residents to be on the look out.

He said: "The articulated lorry had come into the country and was in Eastmayne when it stopped and people just started pouring out of the back.

"We arrested two adults and two children on suspicion of illegal entry into the UK.

"Some people had already made off into the estate before police got there.

"We think there were possibly three more people but we really don't know.

"The UK Border Agency came and took the women and children to a detention centre."

The driver has not been arrested.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police attended Eastmayne in Basildon shortly before 3pm on Saturday, June 11 and found four people, two women and two children, inside a lorry. They were passed into the care of Home Office immigration officials."

The Echo contacted the Home Office to find out what is happening with the women and children, but nobody was available for comment.

Anyone with information can call Essex Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.