A popular pub landlord has told how he feared his business would go under after his village was effectively cut off for water pipe-laying.

Jason Tharp, who runs the George Inn in Leeds, Maidstone, said he has seen a sharp downturn in trade and takings since the B2163 closed on July 24.

South East Water has shut for up to six months the busy minor road and seven surrounding back lanes to lay more than 500m of replacement pipes at a cost of £460,000.

It means traffic has been diverted away from Leeds and Langley and along Willington Street, near Maidstone, which is the main connecting route between the A20 and the A274.

The utility company hopes the work will be completed this side of Christmas rather than next January as forecast.

Mr Tharp, 56, was speaking after a public meeting attended by SEW and Kent County Council (KCC) Highways officials last Thursday at St Nicholas' Church in Leeds.

He runs the George with his wife Debbie, whose daughter Grace is a professional cricketer and tipped for a future international career.

He said: "We honestly thought the closure would finish us. There is absolutely no passing trade and that's something we rely on as well as the regulars.

"But even some of our regulars or the older customers didn't want to have to take the detour to get to us and you can't really blame them.

"Takings are well down on the same time last year although I can't say exactly because we haven't gone through the books yet."

The business has suffered from not getting the usual trade from Leeds Castle visitors.

Mr Tharp added: "Don't get me wrong, Leeds Castle have been great and the staff there, many of whom live in the village, have been sending folk our way but as soon as people see sign after sign saying 'Road Closed', they're put off.

"Our signs saying we're open get a bit lost among all the others.

"The biggest drop off has been in the lunchtime trade and a fair number of those would be people living locally.

"You can't blame people and South East Water have been good in helping where they can and keeping us informed.

"If they can get it sorted before Christmas, it will be great for us. We can start to take bookings."

The Tharps took over the George a decade ago just when a major sinkhole shut the village for seven months.

He said: "We took over at Christmas - that was interesting! We had to take the hit on our trade personally but this time we can claim compensation for lost trade."

South East Water confirmed businesses can claim for lost earnings because of its works.

The B2163 is a daily carrier for thousands of cars, vans and lorries linking the two major A roads in south-east Maidstone.

SEW manages the whole project including the closure but has worked closely with KCC in the detail of the planning.

The meeting in August attracted 120 people but last night's gathering saw just 26 members of of the public attend.

The pipes are replacing old and burst-prone infrastructure which can service the needs of new housing at Ledian Gardens in the village.

The meeting was told that 250m has been laid already and the the project is a month ahead of schedule.