GROUPS of refugees discovered at a North-East port have led to growing speculation that it has become a target for human traffickers.

Ten refugees - eight adults and two children - were found in a freight ferry at Teesport yesterday afternoon. They were handed over to immigration officials.

Their discovery came after six Turkish Kurd refugees, along with one Iranian, were discovered in a container at Teesport late on Friday.

Two days earlier, a group of 19 Kurds reached Teesport by the same method. Two weeks before that, the same ferry carried a group of 27 refugees from Zeebrugge, Belgium.

Now, concerns have been raised that Teesport could be seen as a new human trafficking route after the tightening up of security at South-East ports.

Pete Widlinski, of the North of England Refugee Service, which is caring for the refugees, said: "It is a possibility that someone could be operating a system to bring refugees in. There have been a lot of people coming into Teesport in the last month.

"But then again, it could be a coincidence. I think that it is too early to say at the moment."

The seven refugees discovered on Friday were detained at Bill-ingham police station, but released over the weekend. They were found temporary accommodation by the refugee service, while their immigration papers are processed.

The 19 who illegally entered on Wednesday, including three children, are being housed temporarily in Middlesbrough.

Four adults and three young children were released from Middlesbrough General Hospital on Friday, after being admitted suffering from dehydration.

Mr Widlinski said: "They were in a bad way. We don't know how long they had been in the container."

All the refugees found up to Friday were concealed in containers on the P&O North Sea freight ferries, which run from Zeebrugge to Teesport.

They avoided detection, despite a system of checks by P&O.

Under Home Office rules, the firm could be liable for a £2,000 fine for each refugee if it is found in breach of regulations.

No one from P&O at Teesport was available for comment last night, but last week Mark Evans, a freight manager at P&O, admitted the firm was having a bad month with refugees.

The concerns come as Home Secretary David Blunkett is expected to deliver the long-awaited results of his review of the asylum and immigration system in a statement to the House of Commons today