Part of a dual carriageway will remain closed until tomorrow after a major water leak.

Engineers from South East Water are still working to fix the water main on the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road in Ashford after it burst at about 11am yesterday.

The road is closed in the eastbound direction between the A2042 Romney Marsh Road roundabout for Ellingham and McDonald's Orbital Park junction.

It is currently taking drivers around an hour to reach Ashford town centre from Park Farm.

The water company initially said the leak was due to be fixed by 11pm last night.

But today it revealed the road will not be open fully until tomorrow morning, with one lane opening by 7pm tonight.

The water company has since apologised to customers.

Jenny Rhodes, regional network manager for South East Water, said: "I’m very sorry that the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road, Ashford remains closed eastbound between the Hamstreet junction and Orbital Park, following repairs to a burst water main.

"Our expert technicians worked through the night to repair the broken pipe in what was a very difficult and complex job.

"The pipe was repaired shortly before 6am this morning (Friday) and the team on site are now filling in our excavation and returning the road to its original state.

"We know that this road is extremely busy but we cannot re-open the road until it is safe to do so.

"Currently, we are hoping to reopen one lane by 7pm tonight, with the road fully open by 5am tomorrow (Saturday).

"A signed diversion route is in place while the road is shut.

"Customers’ water supplies have not been affected by this incident and updates will be available on our interactive map inyourarea.digdat.co.uk/southeastwater as soon as they become available."

The Stagecoach bus company is also reporting problems throughout the town.

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford

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