An official ceremony to celebrate the completion of road improvements was marred when a driver crashed into a new road sign and made off as councillors looked on.

Kent County Council chairman David Brazier's speech to acknowledge improvements in Rathmore Road, Gravesend, was interrupted by the sound of a metal crunching in the new station forecourt just after 11am today.

Among the officials looking on was KCC's head of highway transport Tim Read, who noted the number plate of the silver hatchback as it left the scene, leaving the sign leaning at an angle.

He said KCC had a team that pursued drivers who damaged street furniture, and that the driver would almost certainly be caught.

The incident was only a small blight on a morning that otherwise marked the successful completion of a long awaited project.

Kent County Council’s plans to ease congestion in the area had been on the table for some time before Jackson Civil Engineering started on the £9.5m scheme in June 2016.

The project focused on Rathmore Road, turning it from a one way into a two-way link road with a new station forecourt between Wrotham Road/Stone Street and Darnley Road across the old car park.

Gravesham council has previously described the project as "the starting point of a development of a bona fide transport quarter".

Speaking at the ceremony, Cllr Brazier said: "There is a lot of focus on Ebbsfleet but we must remember that Gravesend is at the heart of Kent Thameside and it must continue to thrive. This scheme will provide improvements for general traffic, public transport, pedestrians and cyclists, users of the station and not least in improvements to the public realm.

"I would like to thank the government as this scheme could not have happened without their funding support. We were allocated £4.2 million in local growth funding by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, together with £4.3 million from the Kent Thameside Strategic Transport Programme.

"Looking at the scheme now and thinking back to how tired the area looked before I am sure that you will agree that it is a vast improvement."