A hated roundabout scheme proposed to fix gridlock outside a shopping village has been scrapped.

Since 2020 Kent County Council (KCC) has been drawing up a £3.5 million plan to replace the traffic lights at the junction by Quarry Wood Retail Estate in Aylesford a bid to combat long queues on the A20.

But a six-week public consultation in spring 2021 – which had one of the biggest responses in the local authority’s history – saw an outpouring of opposition to the proposal for the junction of Hall Road and Mills Road.

Some 576 people gave their views, with 90% of Aylesford residents against a new roundabout.

Confirming the plan had been scrapped this week, KCC said the decision was down to falling traffic levels post-Covid.

MP for Chatham and Aylesford, Tracey Crouch (Con) had been vocal in her opposition.

She said: "The roundabout was a nonsense right from the start and local residents have long been aghast at the naivety of the suggestion, which required no traffic management qualification to see that it wouldn’t work to alleviate traffic issues on the Quarry Wood Retail Estate.

"What is needed is the smarter phasing of traffic lights so that at busy times for the estate the preference is for those exiting rather than the usual preference for peak time flowing traffic on the A20.

"Sadly a lot of taxpayers' money has been wasted on this roundabout that could have been used on other road projects in the area.”

Instead, she, and many other objectors, were more concerned with frequent problems of flooding at the junction, which have been plaguing the area for decades.

Ms Crouch previously labelled KCC "incompetent" over its handling of the issue.

It had been suggested that that could only be tackled while works for the roundabout were being undertaken, but KCC has since said it should be able to address the drainage issues separately.

Speaking this week, cabinet member for highways and transport, Cllr David Brazier said: “In 2021 we looked at traffic figures after Covid and noted a dramatic fall-off in traffic numbers meaning the work was no longer needed or justified.

“The most favourable option was changing the sequencing of the lights giving a projected 12% increase in traffic efficiency.

“By not building the roundabout we weren’t going to have access to excavating the ground as easily. We could adopt this suggestion to change the sequencing to alleviate the traffic problem but not without dealing with the flooding in the area.”

Aylesford North Cllr Andrew Kennedy (Con), handed KCC a petition calling for a resolution to the flooding issues last month, signed by 1,000 people.

However Cllr Brazier said the decision to revise and halt the plan for a roundabout was made in January – before the petition was handed in.

Cllr Kennedy said: "This was all brought forward before I was elected. This was widespread and received one of the biggest number of responses to a KCC consultation ever.

"Following my request KCC are looking at traffic re-modelling to see how things have changed post pandemic. I was told the planned roundabout has been halted. Instead they are trialling a resequencing of the lights.

"They were going to sort the flooding solution with the roundabout installation but I have managed to cement the funding to sort the flooding issue without the inclusion of the roundabout.

"I think it indicates that local councillors working with the community can achieve things. When we work together we achieve the right outcome."

No indication has yet been made as to when work to sort the flooding issue will begin but Cllr Kennedy has made re-assurances that the funding towards it has been ring-fenced and Cllr Brazier says he would have an answer in the coming weeks.

A KCC spokesman said: "KCC has taken the community feedback received on board and in conjunction with updated traffic data have been reviewing the options available to improve the capacity at the junction and to tackle the drainage issue without the installation of a roundabout.

"KCC will now be re-engaging with the adjacent landowner at South Aylesford Retail Park this spring/summer to discuss the potential options for the drainage improvements that would be feasible to gain their agreement.

"Once this agreement has been established full detailed proposals for the junction and drainage improvements will be developed and then briefed to colleagues at Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and to local members before being publicly presented to the Joint Transportation Board.

"Whilst the options for the drainage improvements are being developed and the engagement with the adjacent landowner undertaken it is worth noting that the KCC Drainage Team have a process in place to deal with the flooding whenever there is a Met Office weather warning.

"They have tried to address the flooding on a number of occasions in the past and it is only now that the junction improvement scheme has come forward that KCC has the opportunity to engage with the adjacent landowner as their land will be required to facilitate the required improvements to the drainage system to alleviate the flooding."