London, Feb 29 (IANS): A UK man has been jailed for three years for cramming three Vietnamese migrants into a tiny "airtight" roof box on his car and attempting to smuggle them into Britain, it was reported.

Robert Rooney, 35, stuffed the two men and a teenage girl, into the box on top of his Ford Focus in France on October 5, 2019 but was stopped by officers at the UK-controlled zone at the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles, the Metro newspaper said in a report on Friday.

Pictures show the three in the space, which is not much bigger than a suitcase.

When he was pulled over, Rooney told the officers that he "just had camping stuff in there", claiming he did not know where the keys to open it.

During the sentencing on Friday, Prosecutor Bridget Todd said the box was "an airtight concealment", adding that there was "no attempt to put any ventilation in the box. Should the box have become detached on the motorway, the result would have been catastrophic'".

She added that Rooney had "clearly intended to gain financially", with people smugglers often charging thousands per person to bring them into the UK.

It remains unknown if the migrants, who were served with deportation documents, were being brought into the UK to live or be exploited for work.

Last year, 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Essex county.

The migrants, including two 15-year-olds, were found in the lorry on an industrial estate in Essex on October 23, 2019 and were mostly from poor and rural areas of Vietnam's north-central provinces, reports Efe news.