The hunt is widening for a convicted drug dealer who escaped from prison in Germany in a cardboard box.

German police say they are planning to issue an international arrest warrant unless he is found soon.

The 37-year-old Turkish national hid in a cardboard box that was later taken away for recycling by a courier firm.

The inmate was serving a seven-year sentence in Willich prison, near the town of Dusseldorf, and was due out in 2011.

A police spokesman said: "Shortly after the truck that he was riding in got beyond prison walls, he slit open the box and then cut open the truck's tarpaulin to escape.

"I've never seen anything like this."

Police have been searching in vain for the fugitive since last week, he said.

The escape happened after the prisoner ended a shift where he was making stationery.

Instead of joining his jailmates, he climbed into the box which was then taken away along with a number of other boxes by the courier firm.

Soon after leaving the grounds, the prisoner cut a hole in the tarpaulin of the lorry and made his getaway.

His escape was only spotted after the truck driver noticed the slash in the tarpaulin - he immediately alerted the prison authorities.

http://www.expressfreightgermany.co.uk