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M20: Cement mixer overturns just after junction 9 at Ashford

A cement mixer overturned on the M20, sparking long delays.

Drivers were stuck for hours in long queues after the lorry crashed in the roadworks at around 2pm today just after junction 9 at Ashford.

It blocked both lanes on the London-bound stretch, but delays have now cleared.

The overturned cement mixer. Picture: Kent Police RPU
The overturned cement mixer. Picture: Kent Police RPU
This is the scene after a cement mixer overturned on the M20. Picture: Highways England (4284353)
This is the scene after a cement mixer overturned on the M20. Picture: Highways England (4284353)
This is the scene after a cement mixer overturned on the M20. Picture: Highways England (4284355)
This is the scene after a cement mixer overturned on the M20. Picture: Highways England (4284355)

The road closure has been overlaid by the overnight planned closure, and recovery work will continue overnight within the closure.

The driver, aged about 50, escaped serious injury but did suffer cuts to his arm caused by broken glass and was treated at the scene by ambulance crews.

Kirsty Mackinnon was 100 metres away from the crash, which happened while she was driving home to Canterbury on the M20 southbound.

"It gave me a real scare. I had never seen anything like that in my life," she said.

"I was going the other way and was on my way home, with my daughter. We were just coming off the Faversham turnoff when it happened.

"It was quite quick. It clipped the temporary barrier, bounced off and literally rolled three times on its side, down the motorway.

"The guy is lucky to be alive and to have not hurt anyone else. It was terrifying to see."

The overturned cement mixer. Picture: Steve Salter
The overturned cement mixer. Picture: Steve Salter
Delays are stretching back for miles. Picture: KCC Highways
Delays are stretching back for miles. Picture: KCC Highways

Steve Salter, who photographed the scene from the Sandyhurst Lane bridge, thinks the stretch will be closed for hours.

"It is completely on its side and they will need to get a crane in to lift it," he said.

"I think it has hit the moveable barrier in the roadworks and rolled over.

"The barrier intrudes into the middle and drivers clip it - it is too narrow."

Highways England has introduced the roadworks on the stretch as it is working on a temporary solution to help avoid the need to activate Operation Stack on the M20.

There are long delays on the M20. Picture: Steve Salter
There are long delays on the M20. Picture: Steve Salter

The works, costing £25 million, will allow for two-way travel on the London-bound carriageway between junctions 8 and 9 from March 2019 at periods of extraordinary cross-Channel disruption.

Narrow lanes and a 50mph speed restriction are in place while construction is carried out. Work began in July.

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