A 75-year-old man died after a van ploughed into a lamppost in Willington Street, Maidstone.

Police were called just before 4.30pm yesterday afternoon and South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the incident but the driver passed away at the scene.

The air ambulance landed in a nearby park following the accident.

Scroll down for video

Firefighters were also called and police closed the road at the junction with Sutton Road.

Motorists were told to avoid the area and the road re-opened by 7.45pm.

Kent Police said: "Police was called at 4.27pm on Wednesday 15 February to a report that a car had been in collision with a lamppost in Willington Street, Maidstone.

"The road was closed while officers and the South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the scene.

Video: The crash happened in Willington Street, Maidstone

"The driver, a 75-year-old local man, passed away at the scene. The road re-opened by 7.45pm."

A resident living opposite the crash site who did not wish to be named said: "I was in my kitchen at the back of the house and didn't realise it had happened. It was a van on the pavement that's all I know."