Border Force has responded to claims that they racially profiled a Flackwell Heath woman when she returned to the UK from France.

Lucinda Jane Jamila Beck Khan, 59, had spent a three-day holiday with a friend in Dunkirk last month.

She had travelled abroad via car and upon her arrival in Dover, she revealed that she suffered the ‘worst experience of her life’ due to how she was treated by Border Force officials.

The Buckinghamshire resident, who married her Indian husband in 2008 and changed her name by deed poll, revealed the questions she was asked were worded to make out she was ‘guilty until proven innocent’.

Mrs Khan also revealed that her vehicle was the ‘only one’ to be pulled aside to be searched, and that she is considering using her maiden name to avoid similar circumstances.

She also said that the experience left her ‘in tears’.

Border Force privately responded to Mrs Khan’s complaints, stating that ‘officers are expected to deliver a professional service and treat all members of the public with consideration, courtesy and respect at all times.’

They also said it is their policy to ‘not disclose the specific reasons why people or goods are selected for checks’.

This is because ‘if such information were placed in the public domain, it could assist those who wish to avoid our controls’.

Following the experience, Mrs Khan told the Free Press: “We got asked questions such as

  • Where had we been
  • Do we have photos to prove it
  • When did we purchase the car
  • Proof of the car registration document
  • Proof of hotel booking emails
  • Proof of a car ferry ticket

“The list went on.

“We were the only car on the whole ferry which got pulled aside. Why?

“What about the other foreign cars etc.

“What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

“The way the questions were worded it was definitely guilty until proven innocent.

“All they kept saying was that they have a right. What about my rights?

"I have spent the last three days in tears.

“It is very distressing and am considering changing my name back to my maiden name of Lucinda Jane Beck.”

Following the incident, the Free Press contacted Border Force who had supplied the following statement.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our priority is to maintain a safe and secure border for the millions of passengers who travel to and from the UK every year.

“Border Force may stop any arriving passenger as part of their work to keep our borders secure, and any decision to do so is based on the information that the passenger provides, and not on the basis of their nationality.”

They also confirmed that they do not comment on individual cases, and that they ask passengers questions to enable them to reach an understanding of the circumstances and background of the passenger’s travels, as part of their work to keep our borders secure.

Mrs Khan said: “As white person, I now know how the minority in the world feel.”