Traffic chaos has been sparked after a road near a hospital was suddenly closed following the discovery of several voids below the tarmac.

A hospital has warned of issues and residents have reportedly been seen abandoning their vehicles due to the overnight closure in Ashford, which could last for a month.

Work has been ongoing in Kennington Road for almost two months after a void was first found in the road near the William Harvey Hospital.

Temporary traffic lights were installed to allow Southern Water workers to investigate and repair the damage, but it is understood that several more voids were found yesterday.

Workers have also found that the large sewer that runs under the road has been damaged.

The discovery resulted in a sudden road closure overnight, taking residents by surprise this morning.

A witness said that residents trying to get to work and buses on their way to school all became stuck in traffic at rush hour this morning.

"I saw some people abandoning their cars and walking instead of trying to find another route," they added.

The closure is also affecting traffic on its way into the William Harvey Hospital.

A spokesperson for East Kent Hospitals Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "Please be aware there is a road closure and diversion in place on Kennington Road, near to the entrance to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

"Please allow extra time when travelling to the hospital.

"The road closure is due to be in place for a month."

A KCC spokesperson said yesterday that more voids had been found on site and that work was ongoing.

"Southern Water works investigating a void in the carriageway currently under lights on Kennington Road, Ashford at the Junction with Sandy Lane," they added.

"The works have been in situ since end of July. Today they have found more voids on site and under investigation have found that their large sewer is damaged.

"They are in the process of confirming that the site now requires a road closure and this is likely to be implemented later today. Due to the size of these works it could result in Southern Water being on site for several more weeks.

"We will be requesting the site is worked in such a way in order to expedite the repairs and to enable the road to be opened as soon as it is safe to do so.

"We thank everyone for their patience whilst we work on this emergency"

A Southern Water spokesman said: "We are working on void in Kennington Road, Ashford and are sorry for the inconvenience this is causing local residents and road users in the area.

"We are working closely with Kent Highways and closed the road last night (15 September) to allow us to investigate the issue in further detail.

"Unfortunately, the void has become bigger and we are fixing it as fast as we can. As a preventative measure, we have asked residents in Sandy Lane to move their vehicles to a designated area whilst repairs take place. There is also a traffic diversion in place and we are providing regular updates to residents in the area.

"We appreciate this is an inconvenience but would like to thank everyone for their patience whilst we work on this emergency. We will continue to provide updates as the works progress."

Further down on the A2070, motorists have been hit with the news that hated works to remove the Orbital Park roundabout are set to drag on until Christmas.

And there was yet more bad news with confirmation parts of Drovers roundabout in Ashford are to be closed from Monday.

There will be lane closures at the busy junction so drainage work can be carried out. It's set to last for six days.