NORTH Thanet MP Roger Gale helped direct traffic after a car and lorry were involved in a crash outside his constituency office.

Wearing jeans, sweatshirt and hi-visibility jacket, Mr Gale took point duty responsibilities in Birchington Square in Birchington Village.

He said: “With the driver of the car trapped behind the wheel and smoke pouring from under the bonnet, our office fire extinguisher was used by a demolition contractor to prevent fire spreading until the arrival of fire engines, an ambulance and police."

His wife Suzy, who works with him in the constituency office, called the emergency services while Mr Gale and members of the demolition team working nearby, endeavoured to keep the traffic moving, re-directing cars and lorries away from the blocked road.

Mr Gale said: "I'm more used to directing television programmes than traffic and I am sure some of my gestures were not in the textbook.

"There was an interesting diversion with the simultaneous arrival at the roundabout of two double decker buses and a Tesco delivery lorry but we managed. In the main, the car and lorry drivers were friendly and co-operative."

The MP now intends to raise issues arising from the crash with the police and transport authorities.

He stressed: "This is potentially a very dangerous bottleneck. There is not an easy solution but the location of the bus stop, right on the roundabout, can at peak times, cause cars to pull right out into the line of the oncoming traffic. It was an accident waiting to happen and the entire road layout needs to be reviewed. “

A police spokeswoman said that a male driver was taken to the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, for treatment on Saturday's incident. Another motorist suffered minor injuries.