A man has died after becoming trapped in a burning van on the M20 last night.

The motorway was closed for eight hours after a Fiat Ducato van and a white DAF truck collided.

The van burst into flames shortly after the crash, which happened at 10pm.

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A police spokesman said this morning: "The van caught fire and the driver was reported to have been unable to escape the vehicle."

Officers are still trying to establish the person's identity so the next of kin has not yet been informed.

Emergency services were called to the accident on the London-bound carriageway of the M20, close to junction 4 for Leybourne.

The same stretch of road will be closed again tonight while engineers resurface the carriageway. Highways England will shut the road between 8pm and 6am.

Delivery driver Tom Evans joined the M20 at junction 4 just minutes before the fire broke out.

VIDEO: Fatal crash on the M20. Ben Kennedy reports

The 24-year-old described how the blaze was so intense no one could get close enough to help.

Mr Evans, who lives in Lenham, said: “It must have happened literally a minute before I joined the motorway. As soon as I got there everything came to an absolute standstill. I was about 10 to 15 cars away – I was really in the thick of it.

“The flames must have been about 80ft high - as tall as four two-storey houses. It was pretty nasty but there was nothing anybody could do. We couldn’t get anywhere near the vehicles to help.”

Mr Evans, who was on his way to work in Dartford, said emergency services arrived after about 10 minutes and struggled to get the flames under control.

He continued: “The smoke was so thick it really obscured visibility - we couldn’t even see the streetlights at one point. After a while the fire got really out of control and we could hear popping and banging so they had to close the other side of the motorway as well.”

There were road works already on the M20 and Mr Evans said it appeared as though the lorry involved in the crash belonged to the workforce.

“People did get out of their cars initially and were talking,” he said. “Some lorry drivers were scared the fabric on their vehicles was going to catch fire; the gentleman behind me was coming back from Europe and this was the second time he’d witnessed a vehicle on fire on the M20.

“But then there was thick, black toxic smoke and we had to sit in our vehicles.

“It’s such a shame someone has died. It makes you wonder how things can escalate so quickly.”

Mr Evans’ vehicle, along with all the others in the queue, was finally allowed off the motorway at about 11.45pm.

Police turned drivers around and escorted them the wrong way along the M20, back to junction 4.

Four fire engines were sent to the scene and firefighters spent about two hours tackling the flames.

The motorway was closed in both directions while investigation work was carried out and the damaged vehicles were recovered.

The air ambulance was called and flew to the scene but was not needed.

It is understood the carriageway will need to be resurfaced and this is expected to take place tonight.

Anyone who witnessed the collision, or saw either of the vehicles in the moments leading up to it, is asked to call police on 01622 798538.