A no entry sign on a new one-way system which has caused confusion and congestion was put in the wrong place, a council has admitted.

Kent County Council confessed to the blunder after the new road system along Hart Street, off Barker Road, near Lockmeadow in Maidstone was installed to mitigate traffic queues.

But the system, which became live just over a week ago, was immediately followed by a weekend of chaos with many of the residents complaining they could not get off the estate – and leading to immediate calls for the scheme to be scrapped.

Following the introduction, some motorists – keen to access the McDonalds drive-thru restaurant whose entrance is in Hart Street – were seen ignoring the no entry sign at the junction and going the wrong way down the road.

Now, a senior KCC highways officer has acknowledged an error after the sign was positioned some distance away from the junction.

He told KentOnline: “One of the no entry signs located on the McDonald’s side of the junction is poorly sited.

“This is too far away from the junction and is not what was agreed on the original works order with our contractors.

“We will be arranging for some additional signage to be put in place to highlight the no entry, while also placing a more substantial barrier as the sparse number of red/white blocks is insufficient.”

However, he was hopeful the traffic system would bring improvements.

He added: “There is always a bedding-in period when drivers are getting used to new road layouts.

“I spent some time monitoring the junction yesterday and during the 30-minute period that I was there no drivers turned against the no entry restriction, but there were drivers who indicated turning right towards Hart Street and then carried straight on once they had seen the revised road layout.”

He admitted: “If drivers continue to disobey the one-way system, this will make the experimental scheme struggle to operate correctly.”

The officer suggested part of the problem for reports of congestion could be down to poor parking.

‘This was never going to make any difference...’

“There was a large HGV parked on Barker Road, just beyond the Hart Street junction while I was on site,” he added.

“This was causing some confusion for motorists as they could not see past the vehicle when trying to travel north towards the Broadway.

“The HGV was parked on loading blips, restricted to 20 minutes.

“We will continue to ask our colleagues in MBC parking enforcement to monitor parking and carry out additional enforcement in the area as poor parking can exacerbate traffic congestion.”

KCC’s comments did not appease Meadow Walk resident Ed Rust, who said: “The one-way system KCC has created is just pouring money down the drain.

“This was never going to make any difference because the problem is the green phase of the traffic lights not allowing enough cars through - but KCC continue to be in denial about this.”

The public can give their views on the scheme on the KCC consultation website.

It closes on Wednesday, August 16.