Motorists could face traffic misery on one of Ashford’s busiest roads after a gas company announced 16 weeks of upgrade works.

SGN engineers will begin digging up the A28 Canterbury Road in Kennington on Monday, March 21.

They will start by the junction of Faversham Road and the Little Burton estate, before working their way back towards The Ridge and the Conningbrook roundabout.

It will see the introduction of temporary traffic lights for the duration of the works after the project was agreed with Kent County Council.

The company will replace old metal pipes with modern plastic pipes and says it will make the supply more reliable and safe.

SGN engineering manager Paul Gibbons said: “We’ve worked closely with the local authorities in planning this work and we will be doing everything we can to reduce disruption during our essential project.

"We will be manually controlling the temporary traffic lights at peak times to help traffic flow past our work area.

“We appreciate that roadworks can be frustrating. However, the new plastic pipe has a minimum lifespan of 80 years.

"This means once the work has been completed, Kennington homes and businesses will enjoy the benefits of a continued safe and reliable gas supply for many years to come.”

For more information about the gas works visit www.sgn.co.uk.