Neighbours have spoken of their shock when their flats were shaken by a"terrific thump" just after 2am today.

Woken from their beds, they looked out to find a car had crashed into the corner of the building at the top of Tovil Hill in Tovil, Maidstone.

While one woman called the ambulance, two residents went at once to see what they could do for the driver.

One man, who asked not to be named said: "He was in a pretty bad way.

"There really was nothing we could do other than try to keep him still until the ambulance arrived, which was very quickly afterwards."

The car had driven up Tovil Hill but had failed to negotiate the slight right-hand bend in the road at the top.

It crashed first into a lamp-post and then str the corner of the flats, demolishing a waste bin and drain pipe.

A witness said: "It was impossible to tell even what type of car it was, it was so badly damaged. The engine block was pushed back into the foot well."

The owner of the damaged flat said she and other residents had got very little sleep after the accident; she said: "The police were here for a long time."

The road was closed for a period while emergency services attended the scene, but has since fully re-opened.

The driver was the only occupant of the vehicle. He has been taken to a London hospital, police confirmed.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone