Police say a young boy found on the M6 near Birmingham had allegedly entered the UK illegally.
The Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) said they found the boy on Wednesday night after responding to reports of a pedestrian on the motorway.
Officers were alerted at around 10pm after a driver spotted the boy, who is thought to be from Iraq, walking along the central reservation towards junction 7, the Great Barr interchange.
He was picked up by a police patrol car and taken into emergency care.
"He was split up from his parents a few days ago, and doesn't know which country they're in," the CMPG said in a statement.
"It's impossible to imagine how scared someone would be, not knowing where they are, not knowing where their parents are, unable to speak the language.
"We've taken him to a place of safety with food and water until social services can come and take him to care."
A police spokesman added: "It's understood the male - whose age has not been verified - is from Iraq and the matter has been passed to immigration."
