Ashford’s most controversial artwork is no more.

Work to remove the crumbling Flume pavement sculpture in the town centre started on Tuesday and is now well under way.

Slabs have also been ripped up from Bank Street and piled on the side on the road.

The repair work will see most of Bank Street and parts of Tufton Street resurfaced with granite paving slabs, and will take an estimated 22 weeks to complete.

Kent County Council, which will carry out the repairs, hopes the new surface will “improve the image of Ashford town centre and minimise maintenance requirements going forward”.

Traffic will be diverted during the project and the bus stops will relocated to Vicarage Lane. The taxi ranks will be relocated to Elwick Square for the first phase of the scheme.

The maintenance work is needed to replace the slabs that were laid when Ashford’s shared space scheme was introduced in 2008, which have since cracked and broken.

The shared space was designed to give equal priority to pedestrians and traffic.

The Flume artwork, which cost £100,000 and runs through the paving, was intended to guide walkers towards the station.

Over the last seven years however, both have received frequent criticism after it was discovered that the materials used to create them were not strong enough for the traffic that has been driving and parking on it.

The paving stones bec ame badly stained and the Flume has often been clogged with rubbish and cigarette butts.

The replacement granite slabs will this time be laid on a bed of mortar rather than a sand base which will provide a durable base and allow for proper cleaning of the slabs.

The laminated slabs that were used to produce the Flume will be removed and recycled into hardcore.

The section of Flume that runs along Elwick Road, however, will remain in place as it has not suffered damage from vehicles.

For any questions about any aspects of the roadworks, call 03000 418181, or email traffic.schemes@kent.gov.uk