Councillors are calling on the government to help fund the repair of a major road shut for eight months after a landslip.

Dartford councillor Claire Pearce is demanding national funding to help repair the A226 Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe eight months after it was first shut due to a burst water pipe.

Cllr Pearce (Lab) has written to the Roads Minister asking for urgent funding to fix the crumbled road ahead of a crunch meeting tonight over the future of the road.

The A226 Galley Hill Road Swanscombe, connecting Dartford and Gravesend, collapsed in April last year and has remained closed ever since with Kent County Council not expecting the road to re-open this year.

Cllr Pearce said: “It’s now been eight months since the road closed and it’s been frustratingly slow progress in finding a way forward.

“Kent County Council (KCC) is only now able to start the work to stabilise the cliff which means we are still some way off the road re-opening and there is no clarity on how the repairs will be funded.

“We know that KCC are consulting on more budget cuts and the last thing residents need is further delay if the council cannot fund the repairs.

“This road is an important part of our local road infrastructure and it’s vital for residents and businesses that it re-opens as soon as possible.

Cllr Pearce said the closure has had a major impact on the community.

“It has made getting around – especially using local buses – more difficult and time consuming for everyone. The impact on Swanscombe of diverted traffic has been hugely damaging. There is more traffic gridlock on our small local roads, especially from Heavy Goods Vehicles.

“The impact that this is causing is unsustainable. KCC have told us that their regular highway inspections have been increased, but you only need to look at the problems that the diversion has caused to the road surface on Stanhope Rd to know that this approach isn’t working.

“KCC have a fund to repair potholes across the county and Labour councillors will be asking for a portion of this to be ring fenced for our local roads that have been destroyed by the unprecedented amount of traffic caused by the diversion”.

In November, a business told how the closure of the road has had a huge effect on takings with the company having to let loyal staff going as it struggled to stay afloat.

Laura Chantler, who has owned Hot Rod Diner in Northfleet High Street for 10 years, said the restaurant was losing up to £10,000 a month with sales dropping by up to 40 per cent as the collapse of the road meant a decline in passing trade.

Customers forced on a 15 minutes diversion were no longer coming to eat, she said.

“Our regulars don’t tend to come anymore,” she said previously. “It’s too far out of their way now.”

A meeting will be taking place at in the Heritage Community Hall in Craylands Lane in Swanscombe at 7pm tonight for residents to hear an update from KCC representatives and to ask questions.