A couple helped prevent a pile-up by using their car to create a road block following an accident on the M20.

Craig Reeves was driving home with his family after a day out at Dymchurch and Hythe Railway when he saw a blue Ford Focus flip on to its side and come to rest in the middle lane two cars in front of him.

After stopping his Vauxhall Astra and putting on the hazard lights, the former soldier got out of the vehicle and asked his wife Claire to move the car and block the other two lanes.

The 26-year-old, of Helidor Walk, Sonora Fields, said: “You don’t want any more accidents do you? But the thing that makes me laugh is nobody wants to stop and help.

“I started diverting traffic [down the outside lane] then ran over to the car.

"The bloke was unconscious and not in a very good way. He was on his own. I was talking to him but he wasn’t responding.”

Following dozens of 999 calls, police and ambulance were sent to the incident on the London-bound carriageway between junctions 8 and 9 at around 4.10pm on Sunday.

On arrival they found a 64-year-old West Malling man trapped inside the vehicle.

It’s believed he’d collided with an articulated lorry.

Following instructions from the critical care responder, Mr Reeves, the truck driver, another witness along his wife and their son and an RAF cadet instructor, helped push the car back on to its wheels so the driver could be treated.

Dad-of-two Mr Reeves said: “When we flipped it he was like a rag doll inside.”

The coast-bound section of the motorway was then shut to traffic to allow the Kent Air Ambulance to land at about 4.30pm. Once on the ground the lane was reopened.

After being treated at the scene for life-threatening injuries, the man was flown to King’s College Hospital in London where he remains in a stable condition.

Mrs Reeves, 42, said: “Recognition belongs to our truly amazing emergency services.

"They do such a fantastic job. Let’s just hope the poor man pulls through and makes a full recovery.”

• Officers from the serious collision investigation unit are asking for any witnesses who have not yet spoken to them to contact them on 01622 798538.