A homeless man is lucky to be alive after he fell asleep in a bin for warmth on a cold night and was scooped into a lorry.
The man, who was surrounded by cardboard for warmth, was accidentally dumped into a dustcart while he slept in the bin on Rochester High Street, Kent.
It is understood the man was taken to hospital with leg fractures.
A homeless man suffered leg fractures after being scooped into a dustcart while he slept in a wheelie bin for warmth
Fire crews, police and paramedics were called shortly before 8am today to reports a man had been seriously injured.
A large section of the Rochester High Street was cordoned off until around 9.15am.
The air ambulance was also alerted and landed nearby at 8.30am but wasn’t needed and left around 9am.
A large section of Rochester High Street was cordoned off until around 9.15am as fire crews, police and ambulance crews helped the injured man
Fire service spokeswoman Sacha Taylor said: ‘Crews were called at 7.50am following reports of a man trapped in a bin lorry outside the Don Vincenzo restaurant.
‘They worked alongside ambulance, paramedics and a technician from the bin lorry company to rescue the man.’
A staff member from the Don Vincenzo restaurant said he didn’t know the man but confirmed that homeless people sleep near the restaurant regularly.
The bin lorry belongs to Veolia, who are contracted by Medway council, and they sent a technician to help free the man
He told the MailOnline: ‘We see them all outside all the time, it is a problem on the high street. I keep sending them away but they always come back. We arrived at 10am and it had been cleared away ‘
The bin lorry belongs to Veolia, which is contracted by Medway Council to collect rubbish from around the area.
Liz Shaw, of One Big Family, a charity which supports homeless and vulnerable people in Medway, said: ‘It highlights the dangers of rough sleeping in the street.
Anair ambulance was also alerted and and attended the scene but it wasn’t needed and left at around 9am
‘It’s a shame because our shelter was open last night. It could have been a lot worse.’
The incident has drawn parallels to missing RAF airman Corrie McKeague and Sunderland father Jay McLaren.
Mr McKeague went missing during a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on September 24, 2016.
The incident draws parallels to missing RAF airman Corrie McKeague (left) and Sunderland father Jay McLaren (right) who was found dead after climbing into a bin
After he vanished detectives traced his mobile phone signal showing it had travelled in a vehicle shortly after 4am to Barton Mills around 14 miles away.
The movement of the phone matched that of a bin lorry which picked up rubbish from bins in the loading bay area.
Suffolk and Norfolk police spent five months searching for him at a landfill site in Milton, Cambs, but no trace of the airman was ever found.
Jay McLaren, 28, was found dead at a recycling plant on Christmas Eve after he apparently climbed into a bin on a night out.
His body was discovered at the waste processing site in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, at around 9.40pm on Christmas Eve.
He had last been seen at at 4.15am outside a bar on Saturday December 23.