Urban Blue Bus staff and street pastors saved the life of a man who was choking to death on a £2 coin he had swallowed during a drinking game.

The incident happened at just after midnight on Saturday in Gabriels Hill, Maidstone.

Street pastors spotted the man choking in a shop doorway and ran to get help from the Urban Blue Bus team, who are stationed at the top of the hill in Jubilee Square.

Bus manager and trustee, Val Jacobs, sent two colleagues, but it soon became apparent the situation was more serious, and she was called.

"When we got there, he was completely unresponsive; very floppy, and had gone grey," she said.

"We sat him up and gave him the Heimlich manoeuvre with half slaps on the back. We managed to dislodge it and then he vomited and started to recover."

"It was a very, very scary time," she said. "It’s the first time we have ever had anything with someone that close to death. He was a very lucky man."

The 24-year-old man from Strood was playing a drinking game inside Strawberry Moons with a group of friends, which involved swallowing a coin in a drink, but went outside when he started choking.

Once the coin had been dislodged, he was pushed to the bus in a wheelchair to recover, and was checked by paramedics. He was well enough to go home, with his brother, who was also on the night out, and his mother, who was called to collect them.

Mrs Jacobs said: "He was very drunk and I think it is only in the cold light of day that he will probably realise how lucky he was.

"We are there to make a difference. Without the street pastors I don’t know what would have happened. It works with a team and this absolutely proved it. We couldn’t have got it without them."

She added: "I would say all drinking games need to be taken with a view to what can happen. A £2 coin was involved - common sense would tell you not to swallow it.

"Also you are drinking a lot in a short space of time. Have a good night, but don’t go overboard."

The incident was one of 13 through the night. Three others needed to be taken to hospital - two men who had taken drugs, and a woman with a number of health issues.

Bus trustee Paul Alcock added: "I am sure the lad, or his friends, didn’t realise how close he was to death. If it wasn’t for the street pastors and our volunteers the report might have had a different ending."