LONG-AWAITED improvements to Junction 10 on the M20 at Ashford could be delayed for months, it has emerged.

Work on easing the notorious traffic bottleneck is supposed to start in the autumn.

But the Kentish Express has revealed that complex legal agreements that will guarantee the money needed to improve the junction have yet to be signed.

Unless council chiefs and developers put pen to paper within a matter of weeks, the work may not get under way for at least six months and possibly a year. Under European Union regulations on contracts, tenders for the work could have to be re-

advertised because more than six months have now elapsed since contractors were first invited to bid for it.

The prospect of more delays will come as a blow to long-suffering motorists.

All parties involve insist they are close to agreement and crunch talks involving Ashford council chiefs and developers are due to take place on Monday.

The two legal agreements are crucial because they will release the £1m bond developers are being asked contribute towards the costs of the improvements.

The bond is a condition imposed by Ashford council in return for planning permission for several hundred new homes. Contracts were due to be signed in mid-June but neither has.

Until the two agreements are signed together, the Highways Agency, which is to carry out the work, can do nothing.

In a statement, Park Farm developers Taylor Woodrow said it was “close to resolving” outstanding issues with

Ashford council and stressed it recognised the importance of the scheme to the town.

Strategic project director John Aylwin said: “We are pushing hard to get agreement.”