Eight schoolchildren have been hurt after two coaches crashed while attempting to avoid another accident on the Thanet Way.

Five ambulances and four paramedic cars raced to the junction with Whitstable after the Lehane coaches – both carrying pupils from the same primary school – collided after braking sharply.

Just moments before – at about 2.40pm – a white van and silver car collided on the slip road, ripping off the front of the car and sending the van careering into a ditch.

Two people in their 20s and two older people were involved in the crash.

The 27-year-old van driver and a woman in her 30s, who was driving the car, were taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

She was suffering from chest pain.

The coaches, which were travelling coastbound, crashed while trying to avoid the first smash, showering pupils in glass.

Eight children and a woman in her 20s have been taken to the QEQM Hospital in Margate for treatment.

Police spokesman Jane Walker said: “Some of the children suffered minor injuries and were treated by ambulance staff at the scene.”

Another coach has been sent to pick the remaining pupils up.

Firefighters have cleaned up a fuel spillage caused by the second accident.