A 63-year-old hospital volunteer hopes to thank a good samaritan who came to her aid after she crashed her car on a busy junction.

Linda Nelson, from Wateringbury, was left shaken when she smashed her car into a kerb at the crossing for Fountain Lane and Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, but her ordeal was made worse when she endured abuse from passing motorists.

The mother-of-two, of Phoenix Drive, said: “People were shouting at me and being really abusive and so nasty.

"I tried to explain there was nothing I could do to move the car but they just kept shouting. It was really upsetting.”

While Miss Nelson was on the side of the road, a white van pulled round the corner.

“The shop let me use their phone to call for recovery as my mobile wouldn’t work. It just goes to show not everyone is like the people who were shouting abuse” - Mrs Nelson

Thinking he was going to shout, she quickly explained she had crashed and could not move the vehicle but instead of abuse, the driver stopped, pulled on a high visibility jacket and began to divert the traffic.

Miss Nelson, who suffered bruising to her knee in the crash, said: “He was lovely and stayed with me until the recovery services arrived. It was such a nice thing for him to do.

“In all of the commotion, I forgot to ask his name. I really want to thank him for being so kind.”

Miss Nelson was on her to way to work at Maidstone Hospital, in Hermitage Lane, when she crashed at around 9.40am last Monday.

The volunteer, who helps Macmillan nurses on the oncology ward, panicked when she realised a bee was in the car.

She opened the windows and drove off thinking it had gone but swerved into the kerb when it flew towards her face.

No other vehicles were involved but her red Nissan Qashqai is thought to be a write off.

The van driver, who said he was a courier, was not the only person to help. Staff at the nearby corner shop also comforted Miss Nelson.

She said: “They let me use their phone to call for recovery as my mobile wouldn’t work. It just goes to show not everyone is like the people who were shouting abuse.”