A planned closure of the M20 this weekend has been cancelled due to the continued hot weather.

Bosses had planned to shut the section between junctions 4 and 6 across the weekend to demolish Teapot Lane footbridge as part of work to upgrade it to a smart motorway, but have pulled the plug at the last minute.

Instead, two lanes will be closed overnight on Friday on the London-bound carriageway and two lanes will be closed on the coast-bound carriageway on Sunday between junctions 4 and 5.

Event organisers had hit out at the proposed closure earlier this week, branding it "totally disgusting", but highways chiefs have now decided to allow cars to use the motorway throughout the weekend.

Kam Kaluba, Highways England's project manager for the M20 junction 3-5 project said: “We’ve called off the planned weekend closure of the M20 this weekend in the light of the continuing hot weather and predicted high traffic volumes this weekend.

"We hope this is a positive result for people making journeys in Kent this weekend and we are looking at other opportunities for carrying out the work, which is to replace a footbridge over the M20 to help us create an extra lane in each direction on the motorway.

"We will continue to work closely with Kent County Council, Kent Police, and the other local stakeholders, to make sure we carry out the work in a way that keeps disruption to a minimum.”