QUICK-THINKING by the driver of a petrol tanker today averted what could have been a major incident.

The Emo Oils tanker, just filled with 10,000 litres of fuel from a depot in Tonbridge, was approaching the junction of the Maidstone and Tonbridge roads at Pembury when its engine burst into flames.

Leading firefighter Dominic Moore, from Tunbridge Wells fire station, said: "The driver did a brilliant job in taking a dry powder extinguisher and emptying it into the engine bay.

"That doused the fire sufficiently to prevent it spreading and gave us the time we needed to get there and cool everything down with plenty of water.

The call came in at 8.31am and we were there within four minutes, but had the tanker gone up there could easily have been a disaster. The roads were full of rush-hour traffic and soon became gridlocked around the scene of the incident."

Specialist support units were mobilised from fire stations at Larkfield and Ashford but were stood down once it was clear the incident was under control.

The tanker was removed for repair by a heavy recovery unit from Flimwell.