TRAFFIC heading into Gravesend is backing up along the A2 following a fire which ripped through a lorry carrying paper.

The HGV is on the coastbound stretch of the road near the Tollgate junction for the A227.

Fire crews were called to the blaze at about 5.45am but it took them about two hours to put it out. The driver was not uninjured.

The A227 slip-road and two lanes of the coastbound A2 are closed while crews make the lorry safe and unload its contents. A spokesman for the Highways Agency said normal traffic conditions are expected from about 9.30am.