A driver says she is lucky not to have been seriously injured after a collision with a lorry which she believes was caused by faulty traffic lights.

Due to work being carried out by UK Power Networks, there are several sets of traffic lights along Tenterden Road including right outside Sophie Williams' house.

Miss Williams, 34, was attempting to drive to work when the collision took place on Monday, April 16.

She said: "We have a set of traffic lights outside our drive - that we can't see - that are seriously faulty.

"It was about 8.30am and I was on my way to work. It's a nightmare to get out of my drive because I can't see the traffic lights on my left as they are facing the other way and on the right there is a large generator on the road blocking my view of traffic from that direction.

"I was slowly edging out of my drive - attempting to turn right. A man on my left waved me out in front of him as his lights were on green but there was a fault in the traffic lights so the ones the other end were constantly on red.

"Neither of us saw the lorry was coming from that side as I pulled out."

Miss Williams collided with the lorry. Luckily, nobody was injured but it caused serious damage to her Golf GTD.

She continued: "I've phoned TMS, the traffic light company, seven times now to complain about the faulty lights because they are going to cause another accident.

"The ones near our driveway also started playing up and change really quickly, whilst the other ones remain on red.

"Also, they haven't taken our driveway, or safety, into consideration at all. They could at least move the traffic lights so we can see them as we are pulling out of our drive.

"We weren't even told that they were going to be put there in the first place."

It is believed the faulty lights have now been swapped with working ones from further down the road but they are still not visible from the driveway.

Miss Williams added: "I have whiplash but I'm surprised I wasn't seriously injured, people really do speed down that road. Its caused me so much stress.

"I'm now petrified to drive but I have to drive to work everyday. My other half, Justin, has to stand in the road now and guide me out."

However, she has been dealing with further upset as her insurance company - Aviva - has placed the blame of the collision on her.

"Nobody cares," said Miss Williams. "I've sent them the evidence of the faulty lights but they don't want to know. If the lights weren't faulty there wouldn't have been an accident."

TMS have refused to comment on the situation, however a UK Power Networks spokeswoman said: "Safety is our number one priority and our contractor has checked the traffic lights and confirmed that they are working normally.

"We were concerned to hear about this incident and will respond to any enquiries which are raised."

A spokesman for Aviva said: "We have fully investigated this case and all the evidence.

"Although we appreciate that there was a complicated road system in place, the driver still has a duty of care to make sure the road is clear when proceeding, even if they believe the lights are at fault, because of this we do have to record it as an at-fault claim."