A FIREFIGHTER has criticised the police for failing to respond after he made a citizen’s arrest of two people he suspected of being illegal immigrants.

Andy Liming, who was off-duty at the time, ran after two men he saw fleeing from Buckland Parade, South Ham, after he noticed a UK Border Agency (UKBA) van parked in front of the shops.

After calling the police, Mr Liming found the two men hiding in a bush in Shipton Way, and waited with them until officers arrived.

But when no-one came after 15 minutes, the 48-year-old called the police again, only to be told they were not coming.

Mr Liming, of Brackley Way, South Ham, said: “When I got through again to the police, they said they were not sending someone out because no-one was wanted and there was no report of a raid on the premises.

“I said to them that these guys have run for a reason and that I had put myself at risk for no reason.”

After the conversation, he let the two men go and he said they ran off down Shipton Way.

He said the men were of Indian origin and both claimed not to speak English, although both said they did not work.

A spokesman for the UKBA has told The Gazette that its officers were in the area at the time the incident happened, at around 5.45pm on Tuesday, October 22, but were visiting a house, and not any premises in Buckland Parade.

Mr Liming said: “My problem is if someone is going to put themselves in the situation I did, they might get hurt, and the police will not back them up. I wouldn’t do it again.”

Hampshire Constabulary released a statement after the incident, confirming that a member of the public called the police “reporting that he had detained two men who he thought were acting suspiciously and who may have run away from UK Border Agency officers”.

The statement added: “Staff from the Hampshire Constabulary control room made appropriate checks and found that the men were not wanted by the UKBA officers.”