The AA is warning drivers about the dangers of parking on motorway hard shoulders.

It comes after two crashes on Kent's highways were as a result of vehicles pulled over on the roadside.

A man was killed on Monday night after he stopped his car on the M20 hard shoulder and was hit by a truck between junctions 8 and 9. The lorry driver, from Belgium, was arrested.

Then yesterday a man was flown to hospital with serious injuries after crashing into the back of a lorry parked on the M2 hard shoulder.

It is understood most accidents happen on the hard shoulder as many drivers forget it is illegal to park there unless they have been in an incident.

Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety, said: "It's probably one of the most dangerous places you can go."

With Kent the entry point for most foreign lorries, Mr Howard added: "The last thing you want is to be hit by 44 tonnes of lorry, so the more lorries there are the more dangerous the hard shoulder is.

"Never stop when it isn't an emergency - a child screaming isn't one.

"Put out hazard warning flashes, pull in as far left as possible and all pile out of the car on the bank before using a telephone."

However, Mr Howard accepted hard shoulder safety has improved due to awareness campaigns and white lines that make a noise when driven on them.