Council bosses have been criticised for their "ill thought out" scheme, which has left buses queuing at a busy junction and others mounting the pavement on expensive, newly-laid granite in Maidstone High Street.

The £2 million High Street regeneration scheme, which Maidstone council believes will breathe new life into the High Street and King Street, has already seen granite paving laid on parts of the lower High Street, including outside the town hall and along Middle Row.

But the new siting of two bus stops on the High Street’s junction with Pudding Lane is proving unpopular with management at Zee & Co the clothing shop closest to the two new stops.

David Taiwo from the store, which is so close to one of the bus stops that he says its awning can no longer be put out, said: "We have had eight weeks with a hole in front of our shop and now we have this.

"I am bewildered by the arrogance of the council and its architects. It is really badly thought-through. I’ve got no complaint with the men doing the work, but I have with the people who decided to stick a bus stop there."

"Why can’t they keep the bus stops at the top of the High Street which is so much wider? You’re not allowed to park within 32 feet of a junction, but that’s where they put two bus stops - and then buses are just going to sit there for ages holding up the traffic. It’s ridiculous."

Zee & Co is the worst affected business, as Paynes greengrocers on the corner is now closed. Staff at Fashion 4 U next door said they were not affected, and Cheltenham & Gloucester building society reported that people waiting for buses sat on the branch’s windowsills.

The stops have been moved to make way for a town square which will have seating and landscaping at the top end of the High Street and where the council hopes events will be held in future. Three other stops there will be moved to the paving outside the town hall soon.

The scheme has also meant narrowing the road, although bosses first carried out a trial with Arriva to make sure buses could pass each other safely on the narrower carriageway.

However buses have been regularly mounting the paving as they try to pass each other, something Maidstone council disputes.

A Maidstone council spokesman said: "We have worked with Arriva on this and the carriageway width was set so that it would encourage buses to drive more slowly.

"We are speaking to Eurovia to make sure there are no barriers in the carriageway and we are confident that any issues can be sorted out." He added that the council would be speaking to Zee & Co to see how it could be helped over its awning.

The High Street scheme is due to last 34 weeks and will break for two weeks for the Christmas period on Thursday, December 22.

It is being carried out by contractors Eurovia and is on budget and on schedule to finish on April 26. Paving is still to be laid in Bank Street, the rest of the High Street and up King Street. The taxi rank is also scheduled to move up to King Street, outside Lush.