A car collided with level crossing barriers early this morning, causing delays to commuter trains.

It happened at the St Stephen's Road crossing in Canterbury shortly before 6.30am and traffic was unable to use the crossing.

Engineers were called to the scene and there remains congestion in the area as the crossing is now being manually-operated in co-operation with the signaller.

Melissa Baker, who took the photograph, said: "I was there very early so it only added 10 minutes onto my journey but the trains were crossing at a snail's pace. By the time I left there were large tailbacks."

Southeastern tweeted: "Staff are all on site and working with the signaller to keep trains moving with minimum delay across the crossing.

"If driving via St Stephen's crossing there may some congestion on the local roads."

Network Rail spokesman Paul Dent-Jones said a new barrier was having to be brought to Canterbury and it was likely to be at least the afternoon before the repair was completed and the crossing fully operational again."