An MP has hit out at highways officials after overnight works on the new stretch of a smart motorway on the M20 caused a 'standstill' during rush hour.

The M20 was snarled up between Junction 7 for Maidstone and Junction 4 for Snodland on Monday, because of road works being carried out for a 6.5 mile section of smart motorway.

The smart motorway, set to be completed this month, will stretch between Junction 3 and Junction 5, and see most of the hard shoulder converted permanently to a traffic lane.

The £92 million scheme aims to reduce congestion and facilitate economic growth within the region, by providing capacity on the motorway.

While the overnight works between Junction 6 and 4 did finish on time, at 6am, clearing the traffic management system caused delays.

Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, said: "Tom Tugendhat MP for Tonbridge and Malling and I asked twice for the overnight works on the M20 to finish at 5am so any overrun doesn’t impact on the morning rush hour but were told it couldn’t happen.

"Now the A20 is also under construction, it is even more disappointing that our request was dismissed because as we saw on Monday any overrun brings the whole area to a standstill.

"I am sure the managers of Highways England will yet again wave it off as an ‘isolated incident’ but then they don’t live and work here and suffer the consequences.”

Work on the A20 between New Hythe Lane, Larkfield, and Ditton Place began on February 3.

Kent County Council wants to update the existing traffic lights at the junction to help reduce congestion.

A Highways England spokesman said: "We apologise to drivers who were held up on Monday morning because of the overrunning roadworks on the M20. We only close motorways when it's absolutely essential and for as short a time as possible.

"As soon as we knew that the roadworks were set to overrun we did everything we could to get the lanes reopen, and we are working with the parties involved to ensure that the reasons behind it are understood and to avoid this happening again."

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