Drivers are reminded that the London-bound carriageway of the M2 will be closed again this weekend.

Resurfacing work is taking place between junction 7 with the A2 at Brenley Corner for Canterbury and Faversham and junction 5 with the A247 for Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Maidstone.

The road will close at 8pm tonight and reopen at 6am tomorrow (Saturday).

It will remain open all day Saturday - when Whitstable's hugely popular Oyster Festival begins - but close at 8pm Saturday night.

The stretch will then remain closed all Sunday and not reopen until 11pm.

It is the third weekend in a row the main motorway linking London to the Kent coast will be closed.

Highways England says it has kept the roadworks "under review" since work started and was forced to make changes after furious motorists were caught in long tailbacks earlier this month.

A spokesman said the M2 would only be closed when "traffic volumes have dropped to an acceptable level."

Coastbound drivers will be diverted along the A2 through Faversham where other roadworks have been stopped.

London-bound traffic will be given a 69-mile diversion along the A2 to Jubilee Way in Dover and then along the A20 until it meets the M20 at junction 13 at Folkestone. It will continue London-bound until junction 7 at Maidstone where it will join A249 towards Sittingbourne, and rejoin the M2 at junction 5.

Nicola Bell, Highways England's regional manager for the south east, said: “This vital work on the M2 will help keep journeys safe.

"We have kept the roadworks continually under review, working with our partners to keep its impact to a minimum. This final weekend is using experience gained over the previous two weekends."

She added: "I would like to thank drivers and the people of Kent for bearing with us during this vital but challenging programme of repairs.”

The Port of Dover will again close the direct lane to the A2/M2 out of the port to HGVs, so they will have to take the official diversion route, they will only remove this if they get a backlog of HGVs leaving the port.

Despite the changes, some delays are expected, and drivers are still being urged to plan ahead, check travel conditions before they set out, leave plenty of extra time and stick to the official diversion routes.

The weather is expected to be warm this weekend, so drivers are encouraged to prepare for the conditions, such as carrying extra water with them.

Highways England teams will be checking the diversion routes regularly throughout the weekend and will do all they can to keep traffic moving and drivers up to date.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank drivers and people in Kent for bearing with us during this vital but challenging programme of repairs..." Highways England

All planned roadworks across the county are first agreed with a new partnership called the Kent Corridor Coordination Group to ensure they are better joined up than ever before. This group were closely involved in the planning of this work on the M2 to avoid any major impact on customers travelling to the Channel Ports and Eurotunnel for the main get away weekends at the end of July and start of August.

Highways England will monitor progress at every stage of work to keep in on schedule and ensure that the road can reopen on time. Additional maintenance and response teams, including Highways England traffic officers, will also be on standby at strategic locations along the diversionary route to accelerate any incidents.

This is the final weekend of closures needed to complete the repairs on the M2. Remaining work will be carried out overnight on weekdays, with the M2 reopening by 4.30am each morning.

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