A FAMILY of six immigrants have been picked up wandering in the early hours of the morning in a moorland village north of Bolton.

Police were alerted at 2am after concerned residents reported seeing the the group of two adults and four children walking through the centre of Belmont.

It is believed the family, who were originally from Iraq, had been abandoned at the roadside of the A675, which connects the village to Astley Bridge, by the driver of a truck which had been transporting them.

A Border Agency investigation is under way as to whether the group had been trafficked into the country.

Cllr Colin Rigby, who represents Belmont on Blackburn-with-Darwen Council, said: "Im stunned really.

"If these people were abandoned there it’s a disgusting thing to do and must have been very frightening. I hope the relevant authorities take the correct course of action."

It is understood the family had no idea of their location or their intended destination when police found them.

A police spokesman said that officers attended after receiving Thursday's unusual call in the middle of the night and encountered the family at the roadside in High Street.

They were taken to a police station in Blackburn before officers contacted officials from UK Border Control to clarify their migration status.

Police said they had then handed over control of the investigation in to how the family ended up in rural East Lancashire to immigration authorities.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Immigration enforcement officers were contacted by Lancashire Police on Thursday morning, after police officers attended the Belmont area, close to the A675.

"The group were passed into the care of Immigration Enforcement for their cases to be progressed."

The spokesman said the right of the family to be in the country was being examined.