A GAS cooker exploded in the face of a lorry driver today while he was making himself a drink while parked in a lay-by on the Snodland bypass near Rochester.

The incident happened just before 8am. Police and firefighters from Larkfield and Halling were called to the scene by paramedics who had managed to rescue the driver from his cab.

The man was taken to Maidstone Hospital with severe burns to his face, hands and legs and is likely to be transferred to the specialist burns unit at the Queen Victoria Hospital at East Grinstead for skin grafts. His condition is said not to be life-threatening.

Leading firefighter at Larkfield Fire Station Neil Lettington said: "He had a gas cooker and was making himself a drink and it exploded. I presume it was turned on and an amount of gas built up and he ignited it. There did not appear to be anything wrong with the equipment.”

He added: “It was not a sustained fire. It was a one-off explosion. There was only a small amount of damage to the truck.”