Witnesses 'heard terrifying screams' as 13 migrants froze in Calais lorry

Witnesses reportedly heard "shouting and screaming" coming from a refrigerated truck containing 13 freezing migrants. The Eritreans were rescued after a driver heard them banging for help at the Saint-Hilaire-Cottes rest area, 45 miles from Calais. The group, many of them minors, broke into the lorry by forcing open the back door and climbing inside while the driver was sleeping.

They realised they were stuck in the cold after a few hours and began trying to alert the driver, transporting cherry tomatoes from Morocco to England, by banging and shouting. A source said: "Another driver who was in the rest area heard banging inside the truck early on Saturday afternoon. The people inside were desperate by this time - they were shouting and screaming, but all the sounds were extremely muffled."

Emergency services and gendarmes arrived at the scene at around 3pm on Saturday, and all the migrants were evacuated to a field hospital.

Four were then taken to emergency wards in Arras and Saint-Omer due to hypothermia and other conditions. The adults were interrogated by police while the minors were taken by social services and a charity for migrant children.

The Daily Express has seen evidence of smugglers advertising routes into the UK by lorry amid an attempted crackdown on small boat crossings.

One crass criminal even claims it only takes "five hours" and is a "safe game". He also published videos of migrants listening to music and playing on their phones as they hid in a lorry, claiming the clip was shot whilst they were crossing the Channel.

This comes as Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will change the law to allow foreign national offenders to be kicked out of the country.

She will also remove a requirement that means foreign criminals are only automatically considered for removal if they receive a 12-month prison sentence.

Terrorists, murderers, and people serving life terms must serve their sentences before being candidates for deportation.

Foreign nationals account for one in eight prisoners in England and Wales, with some 10,772 overseas offenders languishing behind bars. This includes 6,673 criminals serving sentences and 3,781 people on remand.