Julian Lee, 26, allegedly failed to stop when asked to do so by immigration officers as his truck rolled off a cross-Channel ferry at Dover on Saturday.

The lorry was pursued up the M20 towards London before it turned onto the A228 at Cuxton and ended up in a ditch. Thirty men were allegedly found inside.

A police officer was taken to hospital with a back injury and two police cars were damaged in the chase. Eight were involved in all. Mr Lee, of Romford, Essex, was taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm.

A police spokesman said: "Thirty men were taken into custody and have now been handed over to immigration officials." Mr Lee had been charged in connection with 28 of them. "The issue of the other two is one we will be resolving," police said.

A Home Office spokesman said only one of the 30 was claiming political asylum.

The men, believed to be from Bangladesh, were aged between their late teens and mid-40s. The spokesman said six had left Britain yesterday and 23 were to be taken to France tomorrow.

"None of the men was injured in the incident and they were all taken straight to police stations," he added. "The main thing is they are on their way back."

Last month 58 Chinese nationals were found dead in a lorry at the ferry port in Dover. An inquest heard that the dead had suffocated, and that a vent that might have saved their lives was closed. Seven Dutch nationals were charged with manslaughter.