Northampton M1 death: London man hit several times by vehicles was 'hiding in lorry'

Detective also believes drivers who hit Ashley Hayes may have thought he was an animal

A police spokesman told The Independent that officers are trying to work out how Mr Hayes travelled from the service station in Toddington to the M1 section in such a short space of time (Matthew Cooper/PA)

A man found dead after being struck by several vehicles on the M1 overnight may have been hiding in a lorry, police have said.

Ashley Hayes suffered “catastrophic” injuries after being run over repeatedly on an unlit 50mph stretch of the M1 near Daventry in Northamptonshire.

Police say drivers may have thought they had struck an animal, rather than a person, and that the 46-year-old was hiding in a lorry before ending up on the road.

Mr Hayes is believed to have been at the Toddington Services area in Bedfordshire at 1.30am on Tuesday, even though he was found 40 miles north along the M1, just a short while later.

“He may have been given a lift from there, or may have hidden himself in a lorry, to enable him to get to where we discovered him,” said Detective Sergeant Tony Hopkins.

“This may have been an accident or something more serious. We need to determine the circumstances that led to his death.”

A section of the motorway's northbound carriageways, between junctions 16 and 17 just south of the Watford Gap Services, were closed from around 3am.

Mr Hopkins earlier said: "It may be a fail-to-stop collision, or it may be that a motorist believed they hit an animal.

"There is no nearby bridge or obvious footpath that would indicate where he may have come from.

“We are encouraging any driver that believes they saw a pedestrian on the carriageway at that time, anything suspicious involving vehicles, or believe that they may have inadvertently had contact with this male, to please contact us.

"We are quite aware that this is a stretch of motorway that is unlit. No one would be expecting there to be any pedestrian on that section."

Last year, two died after someone drove the wrong way along the M1 and another man died when struck by a lorry while running from a stolen car.

Witnesses, or anyone with information, can contact police on 101 or 03000 111222 if outside Northamptonshire.