A group of 12 people stuck in a refrigerator lorry for hours dialed 999 over fears they'd freeze to death after temperatures plummeted.

The group, including a pregnant woman and children, were found squashed on top of fruit pallets in Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire, on August 23. They'd been unable to reach the driver and had been banging on the trailer for hours but didn't receive a response.

One desperate man called emergency services with the final one per cent of his phone battery and pleaded with the operator to find them. He was unsure where the lorry was actually parked but remembered it had images of large grapes on the side, sparking a frantic search across Cambridgeshire.

In audio released by Cambridgeshire Police, he could be heard telling the call handler "we are dying, can you help us please?". When asked what the issue was he responded: "The lorry is cold. We are dying by cold. We don't know where we are."

He added: "We have two underage, like 16 or 17, they are dying. Please. We have woman. Pregnant. She's dying. With the cold, she's dying." He revealed the group had been stuck inside the lorry since midnight the day before and had been banging on the side of the lorry for three hours.

The driver was initially arrested on suspicion of human trafficking but later released with no further action. A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: "Last week we received this 999 call from a terrified man reporting he was in the back of a lorry with 11 other people.

"He told us they were banging on the side of the lorry for hours but were unable to alert the driver and that they were cold. The man had just 1% battery left on his phone and was concerned for the welfare of everyone on board.

"Thankfully we managed to locate the lorry in Alconbury Weald and found 12 people, including five children aged between 15 and 17, inside squashed at the top of pallets of fruit.

"Everyone was checked over by the ambulance crew, given food and drink and we’re pleased to say no one was harmed. The driver was initially arrested on suspicion of human trafficking but later released with no further action. The children were taken into police protection and an investigation continues."

Police are still trying to work out where the group had travelled from.