FIREFIGHTERS cut a woman free from the wreckage of a van which collided with a lorry.

The woman, a passenger in the grey Fiat Ducato van, was trapped for more than an hour following the accident on the Sittingbourne-bound carriageway of the A249 Detling Hill near the Three Squirrels pub soon after 10pm on Wednesday.

Firefighters from Maidstone and Sittingbourne used rescue equipment to free her and she was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital suffering from head and leg injuries, which were said to be serious but not life-threatening.

A man who was at the wheel of the van received facial injuries and was also taken to hospital by a crew from Kent Ambulance Trust, which sent three ambulances, an officer and a responder to the scene.

The driver of the foreign-registered HGV was unhurt.

The A249 was closed at junction 7 of the M20 from about 10.20pm until 1.35am while the emergency services worked at the scene.