POLICE have appealed for witnesses to a road crash on the A2 at Boughton, near Faversham, in which a woman was seriously injured.

Saturday afternoon's accident caused gridlock. The A2 and surrounding roads were closed to traffic for about four hours. Problems were made worse by another accident in Boughton Hill in which three people were injured.

Police say the A2 accident happened when a 35-year-old woman driver of a Peugeot lost control of her vehicle, which rolled towards the central reservation.

Two ambulances, a response car, and fire crews from Canterbury and Faversham arrived at the scene to find that the car had overturned and the roof had partially collapsed.

The driver, who was the only occupant, suffered life-threatening injuries to her head, spine and arm and was taken to Kent and Canterbury Hospital. A firefighter from Canterbury's Green Watch said: "She was upside down with her legs trapped under the steering wheel.

"It was a very difficult extraction from our point of view. The roof had flattened out and there wasn't much space to work in. But we did a good job."

An hour later another accident occurred in Boughton Hill, Dunkirk, which is believed to be the result of cars trying to manouevre out of the traffic choked roads.

Three ambulances attended the scene of the accident which involved a BMW and two motorcycles, one with a pillion rider. Fire crews again from Canterbury and Faversham freed the male driver of the BMW using a crowbar.

The man at a fit at the scene and suffered a minor head injury. He was taken to Kent and Canterbury hospital and treated for shock.

A 41-year-old man from Hertfordshire and a woman were riding one of the motorcycles. The woman injured her right hand side, shoulder and had a minor head injury. The man suffered a stiff neck and was fitted with a collar at the scene. The other motorcyclist did not have any injuries.