Residents spoke tearfully of how they fear they will lose their jobs during a six-month road closure, set to cause traffic misery for thousands.

South East Water (SEW) needs to lay 535m of piping, at a cost of £460,000, to replace crumbling infrastructure as demand increases from new housing.

They are set to shut the B2163, Upper Street, through Leeds and Langley, outside Maidstone until next January, starting on July 24.

The route is a major carrier of traffic between the busy A20 and the A274.

At a public meeting on June 29 held at the Mercure hotel, near Hollingbourne, SEW outlined plans to also shut seven single-track back roads locals say were used as rat runs during recent closures.

Under the latest proposals, these roads will have a concrete closure at one end and a chicane at the other, with marshals placed at each to discourage entry to all motorists other than residents and businesses.

Locals feared the new measures would mean long diversionary round trips via Willington Street, the only other direct route connecting the A20 and A274.

Farmer Close, Leeds, resident Chloee Docherty, 27, fears she will lose her accounts job in Wrotham because the school run to Sutton Valence Primary and a local nursery will mean so much more time on the road.

She said: "I will have to get one child to school in Sutton Valence by a roundabout route and go back along the A274 to the nursery, then take the long way round to the M20 to get to Wrotham where I work.

"It adds about five miles to the journey but it is going to be a long, slow five miles as all the traffic will be concentrated into the same place. I have to face up to the fact that I might lose my job. I hope South East Water will do all it can to speed up the work."

Another young mum, from Chart Sutton, left the meeting in tears because she too fears she will lose her job as a dance teacher at a Sittingbourne secondary school because she will not be able to drop her two young daughters off and get to work on time.

Kent County Council chairman and councillor for Leeds, Gary Cooke (Con), said: "I am happy to give the plans a chance but I do have some serious reservations.

"My concern is that Willington Street is already at full capacity. If the glass is already full, where is the rest going to go? I fear that it will spill into Otham and Downswood, where there are no closures planned, as they are just not equipped to deal with it.

"There should be a review of the effectiveness not only after a couple of weeks but also in mid-September when the kids have gone back to school."

Previously we reported how the landlords of The George Inn in Leeds feared trade would be decimated by the closure.

Previous B2163 closures have seen the back roads around Leeds and Langley targeted by drivers with reports of prangs, aggression as well as damage to property, driveways and verges.

Cllr Cooke and others had previously advocated a limited system of one-way traffic using the back roads but SEW and KCC's Kent Highways officials decided against the idea.

SEW stated, after carrying out route surveys, temporary one-way systems are not picked up by sat-nav software systems and could cause dangerous speeding.

Residents at the meeting said that a form of temporary residential permit could discourage motorists from trying to use the roads. Marshals are only planned for the first two weeks during working hours.

Andrew Loosemoore, KCC Head of Highways, told the 90 residents who attended the public meeting: "We've come up with a solution that does reduce the impact of the closure. South East Water has the statutory right to do the work and we cannot enforce that."

Work will be carried out from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday with some Saturday working "where required".

Bespoke signs, possibly some electronic, would be displayed to communicate messages such as 'No HGV Access' and 'No Turning Areas'.

SEW said signs will be checked daily and spares will be available should they be stolen or moved away.

The meeting was called because an earlier 'drop-in' session in Leeds went ahead without a KCC highways representative.

Jeremy Dufour, project manager for South East Water, said: “The current main in Upper Street has become increasingly unreliable with frequent bursts, repair work can often result in road closures. By replacing the main with a new pipe, the likelihood of bursts will be reduced resulting in far fewer disruptions to the residents of Leeds.

“Secondly, the new pipe is wider in diameter, meaning that we’ll be able to feed more water into Leeds and the surrounding area. This is a key component of the project as it allows us to protect future tap water supplies to the area as the community grows.”

Programme phases:

July 24 - August 15 - junction of Horseshoes Lane and to Burberry Lane;

July 24 - September 18 - south of Chapel Cottages to Burgess Hall Drive;

September 18 - November 6 - Burgess Hall Drive to Ledian Gardens;

November 8 - November 24 - Ledian Gardens to Farmer Close;

November 24 - January 3 - Farmer Close to southern side of Forge Lane

January 3 - January 20 - Crossing Forge Lane junction and connection in Forge Lane

Additional road closures include George Lane, Old Mill Road, Caring Lane, Back Street, Broomfield Road, Burberry Lane and Duck Pond Lane.