Police officers share bag of chips with hungry 'illegal immigrant' after arresting him on the M1

Two police officers took a selfie of them sharing chips with a hungry suspected illegal immigrant after they arrested on the side of the M1.

PC Kieran Dempsey and PC Charlie Amodio, from Leicestershire Police, bought the food for the 35-year-old man after he was picked up walking on the hard shoulder of the motorway on Tuesday.

The man was arrested under the Immigration Act but the officers dropped by a fast food outlet after he explained how he had not eaten for several days.

One of the officers tweeted selfie pictures showing them in the front of their patrol car with the suspect sitting in the back seat tucking into a bag of chips.

Writing on the @LeicsPoliceRPU page, the cops said: "Male found on motorway suspected to be an illegal immigrant into the UK.

"He's not eaten for days and we've not eaten for hours, so we've all shared some fine English cuisine... a bag of chips!"

Many praised the officers' actions. One Twitter user said: "Great stuff! The human side of policing is being shown here."

Facebook user Jonno T wrote: "Never felt so proud of British cops. What a gesture of human kindness. The US could learn a lot from this little country."

A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police confirmed officers had found the man on the M1.

They said: “It was a report of a man sitting on the barrier of the M1 motorway. He wasn’t seen near a car so there were concerns as to why he was there.

“Officers attended and following inquiries a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. He remains in custody.”