A rush hour blizzard brought traffic chaos to Maidstone and the surrounding area last night.

Drivers were forced to abandoned their vehicles at the side of the road as main routes into and out of the county town became impassable.

Many appeared to have ignored severe weather warnings and became stuck in stationary traffic for several hours.

The snow started falling heavily just before 5pm and by rush hour the roads and pavements were covered.

Kassy Lomax from Barming said it had taken her two and a half hours to get home from the town centre.

She said: "It was totally mayhem. Everywhere is gridlocked. We have seen lots of cars sliding around. Most are just crawling along.

"We saw three cars abandoned in Hermitage Lane."

Another driver spoke of being stuck at the Springfield roundabout. He said it had taken two hours to get there from town and now nothing was moving.

The Highway Agency are reporting long delays on most major roads due to ice and snow.