A suspected illegal immigrant has died after falling beneath the wheels of a foreign lorry that had entered the UK through the Channel Tunnel.

Police believe the man was one of two from Sudan who had been clinging to the underside of the HGV in Calais before it travelled through the tunnel.

The death happened on the M25 in Hertfordshire at about 7pm yesterday when the pair tried to get off the lorry, which is not believed to have stopped.

Police said the men had decided to leave the vehicle after becoming cold and the accident happened as it started to move off again. The second man was not injured.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "While the HGV was stationary in lane one of the motorway, one of the men worked himself free and clambered down the nearby grass verge.

"The second man attempted to do the same, but the lorry began to move off and he is believed to have fallen beneath the rear wheels of the lorry, suffering fatal injuries."