A public meeting about a controversial new one-way system and seafront plaza had to be abandoned - because too many people turned up.

Hundreds tried squeezing into the United Reform Church Hall last night to air their views on the divisive scheme in Herne Bay.

But the unexpected turnout forced organisers to adjourn the debate so it could be held at a later date in the town's much larger King’s Hall - a venue with a capacity of 500.

The meeting had been called amid a huge public backlash to a new pedestrianised ‘plaza’ preventing vehicles from driving along a stretch of the town’s seafront, and introduced in conjunction with a “confusing” one-way system.

But it was clear soon after the meeting’s start time of 7pm that everyone was not going to fit inside the church hall, and a queue began to form along the High Street.

Attempts were made to continue as scheduled, but soon calls were being raised from the back of the room for an adjournment, to allow those still waiting outside in the three-degree chill to have their say.

One woman who was shocked to find she was unable to enter the meeting was Carol Chance, 74, who had turned up to talk about how the new scheme was affecting those with disabilities.

“To be truthful, I did expect people to come to the meeting, but not nearly as many as there are,” she said.

“I'm really pleased they're going to reschedule it to a bigger place because that shows how passionate people living in Herne Bay are about it going back to the way it was.

“We are a seaside town that people visit, that people enjoy and that's what we want back. We want our seafront back to what it was so you can get in your cars and you can drive along the seafront all the way to Whitstable.”

Previously those frustrated by the plans have branded the new £250,000 Spanish-style plaza “a total and utter waste of money” and argued it should be ripped up.

A stretch of Central Parade, which runs along Herne Bay seafront, has been shut off to cars as a result of the pedestrianisation scheme.

This has resulted in a new one-way system that has already caused issues for motorists, including a bin lorry driver who recently went the wrong along Richmond Street.

More than 1,200 people have now signed a petition urging Kent County Council, which led the project, to scrap it.

As part of the changes, vehicles are no longer able to turn off the high street into Pier Avenue, which has been made one-way in the opposite direction.

Motorists are also only able to travel eastbound along St George’s Terrace, with Dolphin Street restricted to southbound traffic.

Telford Street and Richmond Street - between the high street and Central Parade - have also been made one-way.

In attendance last night was KCC’s cabinet member for transport, Cllr Neil Baker, who says he believes the scheme would not have been introduced had he been in the role when it was signed off.

On the meeting, the Conservative member for Whitstable East and Herne Bay West said: “It was a good turnout, which is no bad thing and all the more impressive given the January weather.

“With several hundred still outside, as far as I'm aware, the decision to stop the meeting and hold another one in the future at the much larger King's Hall made sense.

“I wasn't surprised by the strength of feeling because, living in Greenhill as I do and spending a lot of time in the town centre, not to mention reading social media posts, it would have been impossible for me to not be aware that many, many people are not happy with the scheme.

“I was fairly ambivalent when the initial idea was discussed but the actual implementation has left me worried we may end up with a situation where motorists are frustrated, businesses are impacted and cyclists and pedestrians don't see enough benefit to come close to balancing that out.

“While the scheme isn't even fully in place yet and there will be an element of wrinkles ironed out, I'm not going to tell the hundreds of people who were there last night and the many more who share their thoughts that everything is perfect.

“I wouldn't rule anything in or out yet, and the glacial speed of local government ensures nothing dramatic is going to happen overnight but there are justifiable concerns as well as anger that need to be fully considered.

“If I had been in role when this scheme was drawn up, I don't believe it would have progressed - or at least not without changes to make it quite different.”

The area in question - between the junctions with Pier Avenue and Station Road - has already been resurfaced and is now completely closed to all traffic.

New road markings and signs have also been installed in surrounding streets to accommodate the new one-way system and ahead of the implementation of a 20mph zone.

While the new plaza has been unoccupied since its completion last month, the city council plans to use the space to host community and charitable events as well as commercial activities.

Council bosses have also said they would be open to looking for a tenant for an annual licence to manage the space.

Local business owner David Cain, of Cain's Amusements, was involved in organising the meeting.

He said: “I’ve been in the town for 48 years. I love the town and I love the people. We support the town, we support the council, but we don't support this scheme because it just is not correct.

“We feel very strongly about it. That's why we called the meeting here, just to see what other people thought.

“We wanted to know what it's all about, but we've had to cancel the meeting because there were too many people. The hall was filled and there were 200 people outside.

“I wasn't surprised by the number of people that turned up, I knew it was going to be like this because my customers have been irate; really, really upset.

“It is cutting the town in half I believe and I can't see any benefit for it. I really don’t understand why they have done this.”

A date for the fresh meeting at the King’s Hall is yet to be set but Mr Cain said it will likely be in February.