by Anna White

awhite@thekmgroup.co.uk

A fallen tree caused chaos at Maidstone Hospital when police were forced to divert traffic through its car park.

The tree in Hermitage Lane was due to be cut by Kent Highways on Thursday evening (July 15), but a strong gust of wind got to it first and it came crashing down at about 1pm that day.

As it fell between the entrance and exit of the hospital, police decided to divert the queueing traffic through the site's car park.

The extra traffic meant ambulances with emergency patients were sent to other hospitals for safety reasons.

A spokesman for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: "While services continued at Maidstone Hospital as normal, ambulances were diverted to other hospitals until the tree was removed."

The road was reopened at about 3pm.

Traffic lights remain in place while Kent Highways continue to cut the other trees.