Plans to close a stretch of the M20 for the second time - on Remembrance Sunday - have been branded “downright disrespectful”.

Villages between Detling and Leybourne struggled to cope as motorists used them as rat runs during the motorway’s closure last weekend between junctions 4 for Leybourne and 6 for Blue Bell Hill.

This was for a footbridge in Aylesford to be removed.

People are facing another weekend of traffic problems when the Teapot Lane bridge is reinstalled between Friday, November 9, and Monday, November 12 - as many roads will also shut for Remembrance parades.

Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch has written a letter to Highways England urging it to to move the date.

She said: “I completely understand there needs to be a full road closure for the bridge to be rebuilt, I just don’t know how it has come up with this date.

“With this being Armistice Day and the centenary of the end of the First World War it is an extra special year and I just think Highways England needs to reconsider.”

More than 20 roads will close around Maidstone, including the A20 London Road from Buckland Hill to Rocky Hill, for the town’s Remembrance Sunday parade.

One of the worries is while roads chiefs advised a diversion of A228, M2 and A229 last weekend, many took to the A20 and country routes.

Surrounding villages have also planned road closures, and parade organisers are unhappy with the clash.

Assistant group leader at 1st Ditton Scouts Karen Beautridge said: “I think its disrespectful to have it on Remembrance Sunday.

“Ditton was horrendous at the weekend, I live in Maidstone and will need to get to Ditton Community Centre for the start of parade - a 10 minute journey is now going to take me over an hour.”

A Highways England spokesperson said: “We chose this weekend for this vital work after speaking to councils and the emergency services, on the understanding most people attending Remembrance events are likely do so do in their own communities without long distance motorway travel. We are now speaking to the Royal British Legion to check our understanding around Remembrance Sunday traffic.”

A contingency weekend, November 16 to 19, is in place in case of bad weather.