Contractors building Junction 10a in Ashford will stop working over Christmas in a bid to ease congestion.

Workers are set to down tools from tomorrow until Thursday, January 2 - allowing lanes on the A2070 and new link road, which are currently blocked off, to be temporarily reopened.

Councillors have welcomed the move, saying it should help to ease queues as drivers try to leave the Ashford Retail Park during the festive sales.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) deputy leader Cllr Paul Bartlett (Con) says bosses are "planning to remove as many cones as possible".

He said: "It will be helpful because, at the moment, if you are going from the Orbital Park towards Junction 10a, it goes into one lane for a very short and irritating period of time.

"They will remove the cones through the holiday period and I think it is a terrific idea.

"They are doing what they can to help people get around and I think it will help people getting off the retail park.

"Businesses on the estate have been very badly affected for 18 months by the works."

Highways England says the closure of the hard shoulder and first lane on the M20 will remain in place.

Elsewhere, the traffic lights at the Barrey Road junction - which leads to the Ashford Retail Park - are set to be switched on before Christmas.

Drivers have long called for lights to be installed and they will allow drivers to access the right-hand turn into Barrey Road again.

"The plan is to turn them on before Christmas, but they need to get on with it," Cllr Bartlett added.

"I am very doubtful it will happen because Christmas is less than a week away now.

"It will mean that as you are coming off Barrey Road, you can only turn left.

"So if you want to go to Park Farm, you will have to turn left and go around the new roundabout and back on yourself.

"If you are turning into Barrey Road from Junction 10, will be able to turn right again across the A2070."

Highways England says the A20 will be open in both directions over the Christmas period.

In recent weeks, drivers travelling from Sellindge towards Ashford have had to use a lengthy diversion, but bosses say the closure will be lifted for the festive season.

The London-facing slip roads at Junction 10a are set to open to traffic before the end of the month.

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford

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