A CAR driver was taken to hospital early today after his Ford Orion was in collision with a lorry near Tonbridge. The accident happened at about 7am on the London-bound side of the A21 where it opens out into a dual carriageway beyond Castle Hill.

Firefighters from Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells attended but the casualty, a man aged 30 from the Hastings area, had been released prior to their arrival and was removed to hospital by ambulance.

Sub officer John Wheeler said: "The car was embedded beneath the lorry. We cleared debris and spillages and made the scene safe."

One lane of the dual carriageway was blocked but traffic was able to continue slowly. The road was clear by 8.35am. The crash followed a spate of accidents in West Kent yesterday when bad weather contributed to difficult driving conditions.

They included:

• 8.24am A collision between a car and motorcycle at Sychem Lane, Five Oak Green, blocking the road for about an hour. One person slightly injured.

• 11.12am Two vehicles in collision in Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood. The female driver of a Vauxhall Cavalier which went into a ditch as a result of the accident suffered neck and back injuries and was freed from her car by firefighters. Paramedics rendered first aid before she was taken to hospital. The road was blocked for more than an hour.

• 11.28am A fully laden milk tanker, carrying some four tonnes of milk, was in collision with a van at Hartfield Road, Cowden. The tanker driver suffered minor injuries but had to be helped out of his cab, which became stuck beneath a bough on a tree. The van driver was trapped in his vehicle for 30 minutes and was eventually cut free by firefighters. He suffered leg injuries, including a broken knee, and was detained for treatment in hospital.