A family standing at a bus stop had a miraculous escape from a three-vehicle crash in Ramsgate this morning.

They were waiting for a bus in Newington Road when a lorry hit a car and van before ploughing into a wall they were next to.

And a couple who had travelled from Surrey to Ramsgate to visit their granddaughter were just yards from their Cheriton Avenue destination when their car was hit.

Kent County Council councillor Will Scobie saw what happened from the window of the Labour party's South Thanet office.

He said: "The lorry was travelling towards St Lawrence and clipped the car on its side before hitting the van and heading towards a mum and her two children who were waiting at the bus stop.

"I'm not sure how they escaped, whether they were able to jump over the wall or if the force of the vehicle propelled them into the neighbouring garden, but the wall they were standing next to collapsed and they somehow ended up in the garden in shock and screaming.

"They were all taken by ambulance to hospital in Ashford, but I don't think they were seriously injured."

"The wall they were standing next to collapsed and they somehow ended up in the garden in shock and screaming..." - witness Will Scobie

The lorry also hit a lamppost and a bus stop sign, the van ended up on its side and the driver of the blue estate car was freed after the roof was cut off by fire crews.

He was treated at the roadside by paramedics and taken to hospital by ambulance.

Mr Scobie said: "He suffered neck and knee injuries and because he was 6ft 7ins tall he needed to be cut out of the car."

Two fire crews attended, along with three ambulances and several police cars. Newington Road was closed and police patrols diverted traffic.

The accident happened at 11.30am, just before the railway bridge and close to a parade of shops including The Bridge second hand and collectables shop.

Owner David Satchell said: "I didn't see what happened, but I heard lots of loud crashing noises and then screams.

"From what other people have told me, the lorry driver swerved to avoid a cyclist and then the other vehicles became involved.

"The lorry hit a lamppost and the bus stop sign and stopped just inches from the front of the van I was loading.

"A friend who was with me went running to help the people involved and I called the police.

"The driver of the van climbed out and was walking around and the lorry driver also climbed out."