A fire in a van on the M2 caused severe delays on the coastbound carriageway on Wednesday morning.

Firefighters from Strood fire station were called out to the motorway at about 8.40am after a silver Mercedes van caught on fire.

The incident caused traffic to back up on the carriageway as thick black smoke poured from the vehicle.

The van had caught alight between the Strood and Chatham, close to the Chatham turn-off and lanes three and four had been closed for a short while to allow the firefighters to bring the fire under control.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: "There was tailbacks as two lanes were closed for a short time, but all lanes were fully re-opened at about 9.15am as the fire had been put out."

It is not known at this stage how the fire started.