There was more traffic misery for M20 drivers during the evening rush hour on Monday.

A lorry caused traffic chaos after it ploughed into an embankment, felling trees on to the hard shoulder and shutting a busy stretch of the motorway.

The incident happened shortly before 2.30pm between junction 9 and 10 on the coast-bound carriageway near Ashford.

Police closed the M20 in both directions to allow the Kent Air Ambulance to land in a nearby field.

The driver's injuries were deemed non-life threatening and he was taken to the William Harvey Hospital by land. There were no other people injured in the crash.

Fire crews from Dover and Folkestone were on hand to help free the man from his cab.

The London-bound carriageway was reopened after the air ambulance departed, while the two outside lanes of the coast-bound carriageway remained closed until 6pm.

The hard shoulder and inside lane remained shut until just before 6am on Tuesday as recovery crews tried to free the vehicle which had become stuck in the embankment.

By 6pm there were reports of three-lane traffic stretching as far back as junction 8.

The crash was part of a series of accidents that caused huge traffic tailbacks.

Shortly after the lorry crashed at junction 9 fire and ambulance crews were called to a crash near junction 7 for Detling where a woman had to be cut free from her car.

Earlier in the day, on the London-bound carriageway, motorists faced delays after a car and a lorry collided between junctions 9 for Ashford and 8 for Leeds Castle.

And to make matters worse, heavy rain caused part of the motorway embankment to give way, near junction 8, meaning drivers had to inch past at 30mph.