A mum-of-three has launched a desperate plea to find a couple who bravely helped look after her children after a horror smash on the M20.

Clare Hayward-Salvadori, 35, was driving towards the Kent coast for a holiday in the south of France with her children, Aimee, 11, Brooke, three, and Kodi, one, on Sunday afternoon when rain started lashing down.

The healthcare assistant, who was travelling from Boston, Lincolnshire, reduced her speed to around 35mph as the conditions worsened near Maidstone, and she was overtaken by a lorry.

However, the force of the truck breezing past, combined with the wet surface, meant the car aquaplaned and spun off the road, crashing into a barrier just before junction eight.

"There was smoke coming out of the engine and I think immediately I was relived to just hear the kids crying," Mrs Hayward-Salvadori said.

"I was trying to get them out the car but the back doors just wouldn't open - we were literally trying to rip them off."

Thankfully nobody was too badly injured, but the family was still trapped in the car, and it wasn't until a couple parked up alongside, and helped pull them out through the front seats, that they were able to escape.

"This couple kept them safe in their car for an hour or two, holding onto my daughter and calming her," Mrs Hayward-Salvadori said.

"The fact people would actually stop and help, rather than just drive on, was out of this world.

"They put themselves in danger to help us - it's absolutely remarkable."

Mrs Hayward-Salvadori has since launched an appeal on social media to find the couple that helped them, but does not know much about their Good Samaritans, other than that they live near Dover.

"I would love to reconnect with them and tell them how truly grateful I am for all they did," she said.

After receiving treatment at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury, the family were discharged, but without a car, had to fork out some £270 for a taxi back to Mrs Hayward-Salvadori's mother's house in St Albans.

"We've all got severe whiplash and we were hoping for a week away in the sun, by the pool, but all that money will now have to be used to replace car seats and prams, clothes and toys that were in the car.

"But we know how much worse it could have been - we're just happy that we're all alive and well."

Do you know the Good Samaritans who helped the family? Get in touch at tpyman@thekmgroup.co.uk