Illegal immigrants head for UK - in a Bentley

LONDON (Reuters) - An audacious bid by four illegal immigrants to enter Britain hidden in a luxury car has ended in failure after they were intercepted by immigration officers, the Home Office said Tuesday.

The four men from Iraq were found sitting in a Bentley GT, worth over 120,000 pounds ($192,411), that was being taken from the Nurburgring race track in Germany in a lorry to Bentley's factory in Crewe, central England.

They were discovered in Calais Saturday after UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers, using specialist detecting equipment, found high levels of carbon dioxide being emitted from the German-registered lorry before it boarded a ferry.

"It's important we stop would-be illegal immigrants before they reach the UK," said UKBA Director Tom Dowdall.

"That's why we've got hundreds of British immigration officers based at ports in France and Belgium.

"Last year we searched over one million lorries and prevented 18,000 foreign nationals from crossing the English Channel without permission."

(Reporting by John Joseph; Editing by Steve Addison)