THE plight of an immigrant who stowed away beneath a school coach is being used to teach pupils about the desperation that drives people to enter the country illegally.

Hummersknott School, in Darlington, said it was using its recent experience on a school trip to show the lengths some people will go to to find a better life.

A 24-year-old Sudanese man has been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences after the incident, in London, last week.

The 53-strong group was returning from Paris when they were alerted to banging on the underside of the coach.

Staff called police while coach driver Stuart Bartle kept the vehicle moving to prevent the man from running off.

Teachers kept the 43 children occupied by singing When You’re Happy and You Know It and Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Eventually, the coach reached waiting police and officers arrested the man, who has been given immigration bail.

It is believed that, despite stringent industry-standard checks being carried out before they left France, the man stowed away under the coach.

The staff and Mr Bartle were praised for the way they handled the situation.

Samantha Bainbridge, who was in charge of the group, said: “Much of the journey back to the hotel was spent considering the plight of someone who was so desperate as to risk their life in this way and surmising the kind of life that had driven him to this.

“The pupils showed great empathy for the situation and talked about it in reference to the curriculum work they had completed in school on the topic, now having a tragic, but real, example of the lengths people will go to for a better life.”

A Border Agency spokesman said: “Significant attempts have already been made to strengthen our borders, with 3,500 attempts to cross the Channel illegally stopped this year.

“Where someone is found to have no legal right to be here, we will take action to remove them.”

􀁧 After yesterday’s article about the incident, we have been asked by Enterprise Travel, which provided the coach, to point out that the company partner’s name is Barbara Brown, not Barbara Bruce.

Mr Bartle is also an experienced coach driver with more than ten years of experience at Enterprise and not a retired teacher. We apologise for the errors.