by Jenni Horn

Motorists heading towards the coast faced long delays on the A2 this morning.

There were tail backs through the centre of Rainham to Watling Street in Gillingham.

The queues are thought to have been caused by traffic light maintenance at the junction with Maidstone Road, Rainham, combined with an increase in the number of vehicles using the road because of an accident on the coast bound carriageway of the M2 motorway between Junction 5 for Sittingbourne and Junction 6 for Faversham.

The accident, between a car and a lorry, happened just before 10am. The car overturned and ended up on its side against the central reservation crash barrier, blocking one lane. Lane two was also closed because of debris on the road.

The woman driver of the car and the man driving the lorry were treated by ambulance crews at the scene and it is believed their injuries were not serious. Nobody else was injured in the collision.

Police closed the road for more than an hour while the vehicles were recovered. The collision caused miles of tailbacks towards the Sittingbourne junction and even as far as the Medway services. Police were advising motorists to use the A2.

Derek Pantony, was in the queue on the A2. He said: “I was trying to make my way home from Gillingham Business Park to Rainham in my lunch hour but it took me 50 minutes just to get to the Tesco roundabaout so I had to turn around and go back again. It was total gridlock.”