Traffic officer describes 'heartbreak' after finding two refugee children lost on M62

A police officer has told how he discovered two vulnerable children lost on the M62.

Pc Martin Willis was patrolling the motorway when he was called to reports of people walking towards the carriageway from Hartshead Services, between junctions 26 and 25 near Liversedge.

Two children aged just three and four were taken to safety after being found stranded at M62 services in West Yorkshire. Picture: Pc Martin Willisplaceholder image
Two children aged just three and four were taken to safety after being found stranded at M62 services in West Yorkshire. Picture: Pc Martin Willis

But the enquiry led to heartbreak for the officer after discovering children aged just three and four among the pedestrians.

Pc Willis tweeted about the incident in the early hours of Wednesday morning, describing how he found the family from Iraq lost in the service station car park after arriving on a lorry, describing it as "#heartbreaking".

He wrote: "Tonight we attended to a report of two adults and a child walking towards the M62 from the services.

"On arrival we found a family from Iraq.

"Two children aged three and four and their parents looking lost in the car park. They had all arrived in a lorry."

Pc Willis added the family were "all taken to safety".

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