An illegal immigrant was killed when she fell from the lorry she had hidden in to enter the country.

The woman fell under a lorry towing an articulated trailer when she tried to climb from the vehicle last night. Four other stowaways were arrested by police.

The woman, who was Chinese, climbed from the middle section of the trailer as the driver pulled away from traffic lights in Silverhill, St Leonards. A police spokesman said she fell between the hitching mechanism of the trailer and was run over.

She was taken to the Conquest Hospital, Hastings, with serious head injuries and later died. Her nationality is not known. The woman was one of five people in the vehicle, which had travelled from Dover. The Austrian driver, who was badly shaken by the incident, was taken to Hastings Police Station for questioning. He could be fined under tough new immigration laws.

Under the system drivers can be fined £2,000 for each stowaway found in their vehicle. The other occupants of the lorry were also taken to Hastings Police Station. They are all Chinese nationals.

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