A motorway remains closed more than 19 hours after a driver was taken to hospital after a serious crash and fuel spillage in the early hours of today.

A car and a lorry collided between Junction 10A for Ashford South and Junction 11 for Hythe just before 1.30am.

The driver of the car was taken to hospital.

About 200 litres of diesel was spilled onto the carriageway.

The vehicles have been recovered but the road remains closed so the diesel can be cleared and it can be resurfaced.

All emergency services including police were called to the crash.

Three fire engines attended and crews made the scene safe and helped to clear the fuel before leaving at 2.17am

Some drivers were caught within the closure for almost three hours, but traffic was eventually released.

It is understood that the hard shoulder and both lanes need resurfacing, which will be carried out overnight.

The closure will remain in place until the early hours.

National Highways has thanked people for their patience.

A diversion is in place, with drivers being advised to exit the M20 at Junction 10 and follow the A20 coast bound towards Folkestone, before rejoining the motorway at Junction 11.

A motorist who was travelling to Dover from Ashford this evening has told of how it look him almost two hours to complete what is usually a 30-minute journey.

“The diversion was as they said but it meant the three motorway lanes between Junction 9 and Junction 10 were narrowed to one causing a bottleneck so traffic was stop, slow and stop between these points,” KentOnline reporter Sam Lennon said.

“We were diverted off the motorway at Junction 10 and it was the same pace on the A20 through Sellindge.

“Many of the vehicles were lorries. There were a couple of ambulances with flashing blue lights trying to get through and had to drive on the wrong side of the road to get past us.

“The flow was back to normal when we got back on the motorway at Junction 11.”

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The M20 closure is likely to cause delays on surrounding routes.