A VAN driver has been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries following a three-vehicle crash on the M26 near Sevenoaks this afternoon.

Emergency services were called to the motorway near the junction with the M25 westbound at noon.

Both carriageways closed to allow the air ambulance to land following the collision between a car, small van and truck.

The driver of the van, a man, suffered serious chest injuries and was flown to King’s College Hospital, while two other casualties were taken by land ambulance to the same hospital.

The eastbound carriageway reopened when the air ambulance landed and the other carriageway remained closed until about 3pm.

The crash happened just four hours after a two-lorry collision which caused rush-hour delays along a stretch of the M25 in Kent this morning.