I was talking about this with a mate from work the other night and we couldn’t quite figure it out.

A few years ago when I was still in school a guy in my year decided to take all his savings and bought a one way ticket to Amsterdam with one of his friends. They spent all their money on drugs and then couldn’t afford to get back and were stuck over there for a while. I don’t know how they eventually got back but that’s another story.

Anyway, suppose they managed to hitchhike to Calais (with their passports) and then climbed into the back of a lorry to get back over here… what would immigration do if they caught them? Let them in? Send them back? Confine them to a life of buggery in jail?

Caught them doing what? You mean sneaking a ride on the lorry? I don’t think there was an immigration issue, was there?

They don’t even need a passport as long as they can somehow confirm they are UK citizens.

You can’t be done for breaking into your own house, especially if you’ve got a key, can you?

the ferry company might be interested in the laws on stowaways though

The ferry company may fine them for travelling without a ticket.

Other than that, I can’t see that there is much to be worked out.
They are UK citizens and they are in the UK.

No immigration issues ?

So it’s legal to sneak into the country as a stowaway?

Edit:

You can’t be done for breaking into your own house, especially if you’ve got a key

good point

I guess the sneaking past immigration might be a problem, but they shoulda just got off the truck when it got on the ferry.

Why go to all that trouble when they could go to the Consulate?

Why go to all that trouble when they could go to the Consulate?

To be fair I hadn’t thought of that, maybe a lack of money/not knowing where it was could have stopped them?

There would be no reason to stow away in the back of the truck they could travel in the cab as hitch hikers for free