SEVEN Afghan refugees almost froze to death in the back of a refrigerated lorry. The small group of men survived temperatures reaching minus four degrees centigrade before being discovered half-frozen at the Maidstone Service Station at junction eight on the M20.

All seven were taken to Maidstone Hospital. Two of them were suffering from severe frostbite.

The men somehow managed to sneak into the back of the German lorry before it crossed the Channel and had been in the giant freezer several hours.

Vehicle recovery driver Mike Mahoney heard bangs coming from the truck at the service station in Hollingbourne and pleaded with the German driver to open the back of his lorry.

He said: "One of them just fell out as the doors were opened. He was out cold. If they had been in there any longer they would have frozen to death."

The German driver of the lorry is being questioned by police.