A driver had a lucky escape after falling asleep at the wheel smashing his car into the central reservation on Blue Bell Hill in the early hours of this morning.

The man, in his 40s and believed to be a bouncer, had to be cut free from his black BMW after the horrific Chatham-bound crash near the Shell garage at about 4.40am.

The air ambulance team who landed in a field nearby, were not needed and he was taken by road to Medway Maritime Hospital.

But amazingly the man, who remained conscious throughout, suffered minor back and neck injuries.

The road was closed for about one and a half hours while firefighters got him out on a spinal board and removed the mangled wreckage of his vehicle.

Medway firefighter Tim Ryan said: "It appears he dozed off. He is a very lucky man. The car was a mess and the barrier bent."