A recovery truck driver whose vehicle ploughed into the barrier on the A21 miraculously avoided life-threatening injuries as he fell from a bridge - missing oncoming motorway traffic by inches.

These are the dramatic pictures from the scene, near Sevenoaks, at around 7pm on Thursday night, which left the truck hanging off a bridge over the M26 below.

Remarkably, the driver landed on a grass verge rather than the busy carriageway, and while he suffered a number of serious injuries, they are not believed to be life-threatening.

Nick Pink, 32 - a recovery driver himself - was travelling home through the area at the time when he first spotted the crash, and then played a crucial role in minimising further disaster.

He said: "The recovery driver was at the side of the road when he was hit by another two vehicles through the barrier.

"He then fell onto the motorway below but onto the safe side, if he'd have landed on the carriageway he would have been hit by the traffic."

Mr Pink, who lives in Hawkenbury, Tunbridge Wells, and works for the Snodland-based Neil Yates Recovery, then used his own crane to secure the truck and ensure it didn't fall on the driver.

"He was right below it so would have been crushed if it had fallen," he said.

"I was there completely by chance and it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time."

A Kent Police spokesperson said: "Officers were called at 6.55pm on Thursday to a collision on the coastbound carriageway of A21, which involved a truck and a bridge over the M26 motorway.

"A man was reported to have fallen from the vehicle and suffered injuries.

"Officers and colleagues from Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the scene and road closures were put in place.

"The man was taken by land ambulance to a London hospital with serious injuries. Both roads were fully open again shortly after 4am the following morning."

A South East Coast Ambulance Service spokesperson added: "We were called at around 7pm to reports of an RTC involving a lorry which had hit a barrier.

"The lorry driver is believed to have fallen from the bridge.

"Three cars, one ambulance and the air ambulance attended by road, as well as the Hazardous Area Response Team.

"The driver was treated at the scene before being taken to King's College Hospital for injuries including a fractured leg."