A budding chef fears his career dreams have been shattered after he suffered serious injuries in a collision with a police car.

Stephen Lamb, 18 - who works at the Royal Oak in Blean - needed six hours of surgery after his arm and ankle were badly broken in the early-morning crash.

The former Herne Bay High School pupil alleges the police car pulled out of a junction in front of his 125cc Honda in Whitstable Road, Faversham, at 9.45am on Friday.

Speaking from his hospital bed, he said: “I was driving to work and only doing about 25mph or 26mph. I could see the police car but it didn’t have its blue lights on.

“I carried on and it pulled out and I went straight into the side of it. Someone told me I was thrown about 30ft.

“The first thing I remember is picking my arm off the floor. It felt like it wasn’t attached.

“I wanted to get up but I couldn’t move. I genuinely had this feeling I was going to die.”

Mr Lamb, of Hazebrouck Road, Faversham, was taken by ambulance to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where x-rays revealed the extent of his injuries.

The following day he underwent surgery to insert a metal splint in his arm and a separate screw in his ankle.

Nerve damage has also left him with no feeling in his right arm, something he fears could end any hope of him continuing as a chef.

“I honestly don’t know what it means for me and the rest of my life,” he said.

“I’m a junior chef at the pub and it was going so well.

"They were really impressed and I was looking at one day becoming a head chef, but this has ruined everything.

“I’m right-handed and can’t feel anything at all in my right arm.

"I’ve been told it’ll be three months until my leg is fully functional, but the doctors can’t say when I’ll regain the feeling in arm.

“They said they can’t even guarantee that it will come back, which is the scariest thing.”

The road was closed for two hours after the crash, which happened at the junction with Westgate Road.

A female officer at the wheel of the patrol car is helping police with their investigations, which continue.

Anyone who witnessed the crash should call 01795 419119, quoting reference 28-0361.