The mother of late teenager Mya Lawrence has expressed her anger that she 'was not warned' of the decision to paint over the memorial for her daughter.

Dawn Hopkins, 40, from Whitfield, lost her 13-year-old daughter after she was hit by a car as she crossed the A256 Whitfield Hill near the roundabout junction with the A2 in Dover.

She had been making her way back from a trip to McDonald's when the tragedy occurred last October.

A memorial was made for her daughter on the wall of the underpass between Honeywood Road and Archers Court Road.

It read 'RIP Mya', and had been added by her friends. A second tribute had also been left for another girl called Jade.

But the memorials have since been found to have been painted over, which has left Mrs Hopkins both confused and angry.

Green paint and cartoon figures now cover the underpass' walls.

Mrs Hopkins said: "It just doesn't make any sense, what is it suppose to be?

"They should have asked school children who use it or kids from the community to enter their submissions and pick a winner but instead they chose to deal with it privately.

"I don't get what it is and how it fits with the area.

"My youngest uses that underpass all the time and whenever before she would walk through it she would see the little memorial and it would be like saying hello to her older sister."

Mrs Hopkins was also upset over the lack of discussion over the painting of the underpass.

She said the family received an email to say new lights would be fitted and that while they mentioned painting the walls "they didn't say when and with what."

Mrs Hopkins added: "There wasn't much more discussion beyond that.

"My husband went to the underpass to find that they had worked during half term to paint it."

The B&M shop worker has been campaigning for a new footbridge over the main road as she says people don't like to use the underpass because it is dark, messy, often slippery and on other times flooded.

She said: "People don't like using it at night. A few lights are not going to make a difference."

Her petition for a new footpath named 'Mya's way' has reached 2,000 signatures and wishes to address her proposal to the council's highways department.

Kent County Council said National Highways are responsible for the underpass.

The authority has been approached for a comment.