A man was flown to hospital with a head injury following a crash near Colts Hill.

Police, paramedics and an air ambulance were called to the A228 Maidstone Road shortly before 8am after a van overturned.

Fire crews helped get the casualty out of his Ford Transit van, by removing the front windscreen, and the man was taken to Kings College Hospital in London.

The accident happened near the the junction with Alders Road and Crittenden Road.

Police said the crash involved a white van, which is understood to have left the road and collided with a wall.

Some ladders being carried on its roof are reported to have come off and struck two cars, a blue Audi and a grey Chevrolet, travelling in the opposite direction.

The driver of the Transit, a 24-year-old from East Peckham, suffered a serious head injury.

No one else was hurt.

The road was shut in both directions and queues stretched back towards Paddock Wood hop farm and Pembury Village.

It had reopened by 12pm.

Police are appealing for from anyone who saw a white Transit carrying a number of ladders on its roof between East Peckham and Colts Hill.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 01622 798538, quoting DS/JW/96/17 or email sciu.td@kent.pnn.police.uk