AN elderly man who could not find his way home veered across three lanes of traffic and crashed his car.

The 82-year-old man, named only as Alf, was trying to return to Hastings shortly before 7am today when he lost control of his Austin Maestro and crashed into the central reservation of the A249.

The man had lost his bearings after dropping a passenger at Heathrow Airport around 7.30pm the previous evening, and was just approaching the M20 roundabout at the bottom of Detling Hill.

Kent Messenger employee Lindsay Roberts witnessed the event on her way to work. She said: “I was two cars behind him when it happened, and I decided to stop and try to help. Another man stopped and helped Alf out of the car, but left after that. So I stayed with him until the emergency services arrived.

“He was very shocked and seemed to be a bit of a confused old gent. I felt for him, as he had been driving round in circles all night and had no idea where he was going.”

Both the police and ambulance services attended the accident. The old man was not taken to hospital, as he suffered only slight shock and some whiplash.

Police cleared the scene quickly, and no hold-ups were caused by the crash.