01/10/2008

Four Flee Immigration Detention Centre

Four immigrants have escaped from a detention camp in Cambridgeshire, the UK Border Agency has confirmed.

The Vietnamese men managed to escape via a network of pipes when they broke out of the Oakington Immigration Centre in Longstanton.

It was reported the group cut through razor wire fences after crawling through a service duct similar to those used for air conditioning.

A UK Border And Immigration Agency spokesman said: "We are currently working to recapture four detainees.

"This is an ongoing operation so we cannot comment further. We believe that these men do not pose a threat to the public."

The spokesman also said the men were being held on suspicion of possessing cannabis and forged documents.

They escaped the overnight lock-up facility - which can hold up to 352 men - between Thursday and Friday last week.

The Immigration Removal Centre, which was formally an RAF base, has been in operation since 2000.

(JM)

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