The incident involved a lorry operated by Austrian haulier K-Logistics. It contained pallets of catalogues for baby and maternity clothes retailer JoJo Maman Bébé.

The man was discovered when the truck stopped at a lorry park in Kent yesterday morning (18 October).

Images of the scene show the area strewn with hundreds of catalogues.

In a statement, Kent Police said: “At 8.29am on Tuesday 18 October 2016, Kent Police was called to an incident concerning a lorry on the A20 at Sellinge near Folkestone. Officers and South East Coast Ambulance Service attended and a man in the rear of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

“It is believed the lorry had travelled from France and enquiries are on-going to identify the man and ascertain the cause of death.”

The catalogues appear to have been securely palletised and wrapped for transportation, and it’s not clear how part of the load became loose. No further information was available about the incident from the police at the time of writing.

A spokeswoman for JoJo Maman Bébé said: “We are all extremely upset by the news, and, out of respect for the person who lost their life do not wish to comment.”

The continental printer has not been identified.

A K-Logistics spokesman expressed the firm’s frustration with the invidious position faced by hauliers due to the situation around Calais, with migrants making desperate attempts to board lorries in order to cross the Channel.

He told PrintWeek: “No comment on the case itself. Just want to say thanks to the relevant politicians who are watching the ‘game’ for a couple of years already without doing anything.”

According to a report in the Daily Mail, a number of people had been discovered in the back of the lorry when it reached Calais, but the man was seemingly missed there and when the truck was subsequently checked at the UK border in Dover.