Tourist attraction operator English Heritage is seeking a meeting with highways chiefs at Kent County Council after a car plummeted 20ft into a castle moat for the second time in three months.

The charity, which manages Deal Castle, raised its concerns over the incident on Saturday morning.

In a statement released today, it said it is keen to explore whether further traffic calming measures could be installed.

Neil McCollum, head of historic properties for Kent, said: "The incident at Deal Castle on Saturday morning occurred on the corner of Prince of Wales Terrace and Deal Castle Road, an area which is protected by concrete bollards on the highway.

"The incident in September happened further up Deal Castle Road and the section of railings which were damaged then has already been fully repaired.

“The incident this weekend occurred before any of our staff members had arrived at the site but the driver was quickly attended to by the emergency services and we wish him well in his recovery.

"English Heritage’s maintenance team immediately put a temporary barrier in place to cover the section of railings which were damaged and these will be repaired once the car has been removed from the moat.

"We will also assess and repair any damage to the ground where the car landed.

“We are concerned that this is the second time in three months such an incident has occurred.

"We will be asking for a meeting with Kent County Council’s highways team to ask them to review traffic protection on the bend and to consider if any other traffic calming measures can be put in place on Prince of Wales Terrace.”

Emergency services rushed to the scene at 8.40am after an elderly driver veered off the road.

Fire crews cut open the roof and gave him first aid, before paramedics took over.

He was taken to hospital after being treated for a head injury.

It followed a similar incident involving a black BMW in September, when a male reportedly swerved to avoid pedestrians in the road.

He was taken to hospital and treated for neck pain.