The Dutch emergency services treated 25 people found hiding in a refrigerated lorry on a ferry heading from Vlaardingen near Rotterdam to England on Tuesday evening.

The ship, the Britannia Seaways returned to the Netherlands after the stowaways were found by crew members not long after the ferry put to sea, broadcaster NOS said.

The stowaways are being given the medical help they needed, a police spokesman said.

Brandweer, politie en ambulances blijven nog aanrijden bij de Vulcaanhaven in Vlaardingen. Onduidelijk is wat de situatie is aan boord van de Brittania Seaways waar de verstekelingen zinn aangetroffen. #vlaardingen #verstekelingen pic.twitter.com/8Ri9VHaSZF

— robert bas (@robertpbas) November 19, 2019

The nationality of the stowaways has not yet been made public.

Last month, 39 Vietnamese stowaways died after becoming trapped in a refrigerated lorry in England. They are believed to have reached the UK via a Belgian port.

In August, 27 Vietnamese nationals were found in a refrigerated lorry at Hook of Holland, including a number of children. An Irish lorry driver was arrested on suspicion of people trafficking.

Dutch ports have become increasingly popular with human traffickers in recent years and 1,371 stowaways were found on lorries leaving Dutch ports last year.