TWO police officers were left shaken and with minor injuries when their patrol car rolled down a ditch and overturned.

They had been forced off the road by a motorist driving the wrong way on the A2.

The officers, stationed at Canterbury, were looking for a man missing from his family home at Eythorne, near Dover.

The man's family had telephoned the police on Sunday night. They were concerned about his whereabouts, saying he was depressed, and feared he might have taken tablets.

His details were then passed to police patrols in the area and members of one patrol located the man in his car near Barham. As he was spotted he drove off in the direction of Dover.

A police spokesman said: "He then did a U-turn and begun driving London-bound on the coastbound carriageway - the wrong way along the A2.

"Two police officers in a marked car were confronted by the man's car travelling the wrong way and were forced to take avoiding action. They left the carriageway and then rolled down the ditch."

The two officers were treated for shock and minor injuries by ambulance crews .

Later the man was traced to Woolage Village, near Womenswold, at about 1.30am on Monday..

Police officers from across south east Kent, including Dover and Canterbury, and officers from the traffic department were involved in the search for the man who was detained under the Mental Health Act.