A road will be closed for 12 months as work to expand a Kent village continues.

Colliers Way, in Aylesham, near Dover, has now shut and has an estimed reopening date of May 6, 2024.

Road chiefs say it is to allow “incursion works to be carried out” and to “allow working space for a development”.

It comes as the village continues to grow, with 1,000 of the homes set for the Aylesham Garden Village development already built.

Work on the last 290 is now underway.

As part of the plans, Colliers Way will be closed between the junctions of Boulevard Courrieres and Cooting Road.

The alternative route for any through traffic is via Boulevard Courrieres, Market Place, Dorman Avenue North, the B2046 Adisham Road, Cooting Road and vice versa.

Colliers Way is a short and relatively new road and is a handy cut-through between the main village and the Cooting Road industrial estate.

But apart from the official diversion route, drivers can also go between both places via Spinney Lane in the south.

There is already a large building site next to Colliers Way and hoardings from developer Barratt Homes tells of one-, two- and three-bedroom houses and flats on the way.

A spokesman from Dover District Council said: “The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while allowing incursion works to be carried out.

“This is part of final phase of the Aylesham Garden Village development.

“Works are undertaken by Kent County Council.”

Aylesham, originally a mining village for workers at Snowdown Colliery, is gradually being transformed with the development of the Garden Village.

Work started in 2014.

Some of the new streets are named to reflect the area’s coal mining heritage, including Hobnail Path, and Davy Street. The latter refers to the special safety lamp used by miners.

A further 640 homes are planned for Aylesham, south of Spinney Lane, as allocated in the Dover Local Plan.