A delivery lorry toppled over as it came on to the Island and spilled almost 500 pints of milk over the carriageway.

The driver was trapped in the cab for an hour as firefighters worked to free him before he was taken to hospital.

The accident happened on the slip road at the Cowstead Corner roundabout as the lorry filtered round heading towards Sheerness at 5.45am on Monday.

It is thought the vehicle hit the barrier before toppling over.

It landed on the driver's side and firefighters had to work to remove the windscreen before they could pull the man to safety.

After an hour, the 32-year-old was released and taken to Medway Maritime Hospital with head, back, arm and leg injuries, but his condition was not thought to be life threatening.

Sheppey fire station temporary crew manager Paul Schembri, who was on the scene, said the man's head and shoulders were already out of the cab when they arrived and once they had pulled him through he stood up and walked out.

Mr Schembri said there was back-up from other fire crews, including one from Medway which watched the rear of the vehicle in case of fire.

He added: "It was good work by all the crews involved.

"It was a tough job because of the way lorry cabs are constructed - they are reinforced and it's not just a matter of cutting a car roof off, which can be done quite easily and speedily.

"It's a slow process."

A large amount of diesel also leaked on to the carriageway which damaged it.

Traffic was being sent via the roundabout until workers resurfaced it on Tuesday night.

It is not the first time a lorry has overturned on the new Cowstead Corner roundabout - it has happened at least five times since it opened in 2006.

In 2009, two lorries crashed in two days at the site.

Police are looking into the circumstances surrounding this latest accident.

A Highways Agency spokesman said the road complies with all the relevant standards but added: "If there was something we could do to prevent similar incidents, of course we would look at it very, very carefully."