A man suffered serious injuries after getting trapped in a watertight door on board a ferry travelling to Kent.

The accident happened at the Port of Ostend in Belgium on Monday - but coastguards say the man was not discovered until the TransEuropa ferry was five miles from its destination off Ramsgate.

The man, believed to be a Czech ferry worker aged in his fifties, was taken by air ambulance to a London hospital.

He was suffering from serious injuries to his chest and neck.

Thanet coastguard spokesman Pete Overton said the man was unconscious when paramedics arrived.

The crossing between Ostend and Ramsgate usually takes around four hours.

The vessel involved was the Eurovoyager, which transports freight and passengers across the North Sea.

The 12,000-tonne ship has a capacity of 1,250 passengers, 127 cars or 45 lorries, according to its operator's website.