A British court on Friday jailed for three years a people smuggler who tried to sneak in three Vietnamese nationals by cramming them into the roof box of his car.

Pictures released by the UK interior ministry showed the three - including a 15-year-old girl - being helped out of the white container box strapped to the top of the man's black sedan.

The interior ministry said the three were discovered last October by the UK Border Force during a routine check of Rooney's car in a British-control zone near the northern French port of Calais.