A couple returned from their holiday in France to the shock find of finding a young stowaway in their roof box.
Simon Fenton and his wife Sally, both 57, had spent August in Dordogne with their dog, hiking and cycling in the French countryside.
On Friday 30 August, Simon, a lawyer, booked himself and his wife in to a hotel in Calais, before getting the ferry back in the morning.
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His car wouldn't fit in the hotel's car park, so he had to park it outside on the street before getting up at 4am to head back home.
Getting the ferry back at 11am, Simon then drove for three hours to the family home in Newbury, Berkshire. When he got back, tired from the journey, he left his stuff in the car, and went inside to watch the rugby.
He then heard Sally scream and rushed outside to see what was going on.
Simon said he saw the sole of a shoe sticking out of the roof box, saying it took them 'a few moments to realise there would be a foot [attached]'.
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He said a 'small dark-skinned hand' suddenly appeared, and the car shook as a lad - around 5' 5'' - spoke broken Dutch and German to them.
The couple called police, who took the lad out of the roof box with a crowbar. They allegedly advised: "Stand back, he might have a gun."
Simon said the boy's friends must have taken the belongings that were in the roof box, including shoes, their camera and a dog bed.
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Simon said: "He spoke bits of Dutch and German, and we managed to gleam from him that he was about 17, from Egypt, and had raided our roof box to climb in.
"We kept him at bay while I called the police - who arrived, and had to wrench the box open with a crowbar.
"They actually told us - 'Stand back, he might have a gun'.
"Needless to say, the roof box was completely damaged. We'd also spent a fortune on shoes - sandals, evening shoes, boots - for the trip, and we had the camera and the dog bed all in there.
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"And he and his friends had stolen them so he could get into this country. We still don't know how he managed to actually fit in the box, though. We'd have felt him move around on the motorway."
Thames Valley Police said: "Thames Valley Police was called at around 3pm on Saturday (31/8) to reports of a person in a roof box of car in Dormer Close, Newbury.
"Officers attended and a 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. The investigation is now being dealt with by immigration officials."
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