A policeman on an emergency call has been cut free and taken to hospital following a car crash in Margate.

He was responding to reports of a man threatening to take his life on Ramsgate Road, when the car he was travelling in collided with a van.

The accident happened close to the Victoria Traffic lights at 5.45am today.

The officer and two other men were taken to the town's QEQM hospital for treatment. All three are understood to have suffered minor injuries.

The crash caused long tailbacks for rush hour motorists and the road remained closed for around four hours while Kent Police's serious collision investigation team examined the scene.