FIREFIGHTERS battled in vain to rescue a man from his car after it plunged into a ditch.

Emergency crews were called to a stretch of the A228 between the Stoke Crossing and the rail crossing at the BP terminal on the Isle of Grain after a passer-by saw the car overturned in the ditch just after 8pm on Sunday.

It was the second death on the A228 in less than 48 hours, bringing the total number of deaths on the road to 33 over the last 20 years.

The latest victim was in his 40s. He has not yet been named by police.

Crews from Strood Fire Brigade had to use lifting equipment to pull the overturned blue Ford Sierra from the water-filled ditch.

Firefighters pulled the man, who was still wearing his seat belt, from the car and tried to revive him by giving him heart massage and oxygen. He was taken to hospital where he later died.

Crews also spent time frantically looking for any other vehicles or people who may have also been involved, but it is believed the car was the only vehicle involved.

The road was closed for three hours as emergency crews and members of Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit searched the area. The man had not yet been named.

The accident was the second fatality on the A228 at the weekend. On Saturday morning the road claimed its 32nd victim, a young man in his late teens or early twenties. His car collided with a lorry outside the Windmill pub on the Ratcliffe Highway near Hoo.

Kent police are appealing for witnesses to call them on 01622 600970.