Quick-thinking firefighters avoided disaster when they stopped a flaming van which rolled down the Blue Bell Hill bypass.

The Ford Transit van was on the Chatham-bound A229 when the driver smelt burning at 7pm yesterday.

He stopped in the slip road to Blue Bell Hill village and called 999, but as Medway and Strood fire crews arrived the blaze cut through the handbrake.

The flaming van rolled downhill across all three lanes of traffic. Medway firefighters stopped it by throwing coiled hoses under the wheels.

Strood watch manager Martin Simmons said: "They managed to throw some rolls of hose across the wheels and a couple more ran out to stop the traffic.

"Fortunately they managed to stop it before it crossed the central reservation.

"It was very quick thinking. They did really well."

Crews took an hour and a half to deal with the fire, believed to have started in a battery in the back of the van.

A Medway fire service spokesman said: "It engulfed the van completely."