Highways chiefs insist they will keep delays to a minimum as they prepare to install a roundabout along the main route into Herne Bay.

Kent County Council officials say temporary traffic lights will be used while the six-month development - which began after the new year - takes place at the junction between the A291 and Bullockstone Road.

They stress the signals will be used for “various periods” over the duration of the scheme, with the A-route only expected to be sealed off once for overnight surfacing works.

But with Bullockstone Road not set to reopen until the summer as the authority transforms the rest of the stretch, residents fear there could be more disruption to their journeys.

Herne and Broomfield Parish Council chairman Carol Davis told KentOnline: “The closure is already causing a few issues.

“There could potentially be tailbacks, as there usually are, when the lights are there.

“If the traffic backs up into Herne village, which is already a high-pollution area, then it’s going to make that worse.

“The project isn’t for some time going to make traffic through the village any better than before the work started, particularly as there are more and more houses being built in the area.”

The multi-million-pound county council project - called the Bullockstone Road Improvement Scheme - will see the rat-run fitted with widened carriageways and two new roundabouts, including the one at the A291 turning.

Bullockstone Road will also be equipped with a shared foot and cyclepath and have its speed limit reduced to 40mph.

Drone photographs taken by this website last month show the second roundabout near Lower Herne Road beginning to take shape.

Mounds of dirt and construction vehicles surround the new turning, which will be connected to a route - scheduled for completion in 2025 - running through the centre of 800-home estate Strode Farm.

In all, Bullockstone Road will be lined by more than 1,000 new properties, as developers eye up four plots along the thoroughfare.

A county council spokesman said: “The improvements to the route will reduce congestion through Herne, provide reliable journey times and improve safety by providing better access to pedestrians and cyclists.

“The construction period for the roundabout at the junction with the A291 Canterbury Road is between January and June.

“We will construct the predominantly offline part of it first.

“Once complete, traffic will be directed around the new part of the roundabout to allow for the other half to be constructed.”

The ground at the A291 junction has already been levelled ahead of the creation of its new roundabout.

Other images show cones and temporary fencing dotted along the edge of Bullockstone Road, while signs tell passers-by local firm R Jackson Motors is open as usual.

When the rat-run was closed at the beginning of August highways bosses anticipated the project to last a whopping 52 weeks.

“We are on track to be completed as expected in July,” the spokesman added.

“Temporary traffic lights will be used for various periods during the works on the Canterbury Road roundabout.

“We’re working hard to keep disruption to a minimum for local residents.”