Water and highways bosses face a grilling from the public in the wake of a major village road closure set to last unto 2024.

South East Water (SEW), which is carrying out six months of work to lay 535m of new pipes, has announced an open meeting on August 8 to gauge opinion.

The busy B2163 Upper Street, which links the A20 and the A274 between Leeds and Langley, Maidstone, carries thousands of vehicles each day.

It will be closed until January as will seven back roads which would otherwise become rat runs.

The aim is to force drivers onto Willington Street, near Maidstone, instead.

The main concern has been how communities beyond the closures will cope.

Kent County Council's Kent Highways department, whose officers advised SEW before the July 24 closure, will also be in attendance at the 6pm meeting at St Nicholas Church in Leeds.

Harrietsham Parish Council chairman Eddie Powell said: "I imagine South East Water and Kent Highways will be hearing some forthright opinions from residents.

“The roads were terrible before but now they're just awful."

Cllr Powell lives in Chegworth where the single-track road is now regularly jammed with traffic, including the occasional HGV, trying to avoid Willington Street.

He added: "People don't realise just how much traffic goes through Leeds and Langley and when it has to go somewhere else, the roads can't cope.

"If a relief road had been built years ago, none of this would matter. But KCC doesn't seem to able to start anything much less finish anything."

Road widening schemes, junction expansions and roundabout changes have all been on the slate for years, but few if any get started, added Cllr Powell.

Cllr Denis Spooner, a Bearsted parish councillor and a borough member, said in addition to the Leeds closures, shutting Ware Street had put more traffic onto the A20 and New Cut Road at Grove Green.

He added: "It's nose to tail in New Cut Road now. It's effectively become an eastern bypass."

SEW will spend £460,000 on the work and the project forms part of the utility firm's "commitment" to investing more than £489m into upgrading its infrastructure.

In addition to the August 8 meeting, there is another on September 14 which will be shortly after the school holidays have finished.

It is anticipated there will be significantly more traffic on the roads and will pose the first real test of the closures' consequences.

SEW has written to Thurnham Parish Council to explain the meetings' format.

It said: "This will not be a ‘drop-in’ session. We will (provide)... a brief recap of the project and provide an update on progress.

"We will then proceed to review the additional traffic management measures in place. This will be done on a road-by-road basis to allow residents of each road to be heard, with time at the end for any other concerns to be raised.

"The traffic management on this scheme is over and above what we would normally do and as such is a dynamic and evolving situation with tweaks being made where necessary as we progress.

“We hope you feel that there is an improvement on what you would normally see when Upper Street is closed."

Leeds county councillor Gary Cooke said: "I am following this day-to-day to assess what is going on. The real impact of the closures will come in September when the kids go back."

Residents have successfully campaigned to ask SEW to move the concrete barrier planned for the A20 junction at Caring Lane to further along to where it meets Forge Lane and Back Street.

Thurnham parish councillor Ruth Duncan said: "I think people are generally happy that SEW decided to consult with residents and move the barrier further along.

“But six months is still a very long time. You could wear it for a few weeks but it will have an impact on the businesses along Caring Lane."