A pair of migrants were discovered hiding in a coach carrying 50 schoolchildren returning to the UK from France when they started cheering as they reached Britain, it has emerged. The coach was taking Year 7 pupils home after a trip to Europe when the stowaways were found on the M11 in Essex on Friday.

A parent of a child in the vehicle said the driver and teachers heard knocking and cheers coming from under the front of the coach. The driver reportedly tried to pull over, but when the wheels hit gravel, shouts came from below.

Police told the driver to slow to about 45mph and take the hard shoulder to Birchanger services just outside Bishop’s Stortford.

A parent told the Daily Mail: “The poor driver was in a terrible situation. If he slowed down too much, there was a chance they would either get out and get caught in the wheels and die.”

Pupils were told to shut the coach’s curtains, and the driver turned up the music so the youngsters weren’t troubled by what was happening.

Once the coach stopped, the driver is reported to have confronted one of the migrants, who claimed to be 17 after at first saying he was 20.

Essex Police confirmed it was called just before 10pm on June 6.

A spokesman from the force said one person was taken into custody and the second referred to social care.

The Home Office said an investigation is underway.

A spokesman said: “We are relentless in our pursuit of people-smuggling gangs and stand ready to respond to all methods, including coaches and other clandestine routes.”