A BUS designed to take 40 passengers was found to have one more on board - under the floorboards.

Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers conducting routine bus checks at 7.50 am on Friday found a floor board laid above the stairs leading to the emergency exit of the bus.

Finding it unusual, an officer tapped on the board and realised it was hollow.

When he lifted it, he saw a man hiding below, on the stairs of the emergency exit. The man appeared nervous and struggled when the officer tried to pull him out of his hiding spot. The officer then called for his partner to help drag the man out.

The man is a 32-year-old Chinese national who has overstayed his social visit pass. The discovery took place just before the 8am change in shift for the checkpoint officers.

This is the first time that the ICA has discovered someone hiding in the stairwell of the emergency exit, said Deputy Commander of Woodlands Command Nyan Foong Choo.

Most of the time, stowaways hide in the luggage compartment of buses, she added.

The bus, which transports workers to and from work at the Hewlett-Packard factory at Depot Road, was on its way to Johor Bahru after picking up night-shift workers at the factory.

All 40 workers were not on board the bus as they were in the process of clearing immigration when the man was discovered.

The 38-year-old Malaysian driver has been arrested.