Villagers have expressed their fury at being told they will not get noise dampening barriers as part of a smart motorway upgrade on the M20 despite them being built for residents just a few miles up the road.

The stretch of the route between junctions three and four, which passes Birling, Ryarsh, and Addington, will not have the barriers installed while the stretch between junctions four and five, passing New Hythe, Leybourne, New Hythe, and Aylesford.

In a letter to MP Tom Tugendhat director of major projects Peter Mumford explained that because of the low number of homes near the motorway between junctions three and four, and only a small noise increase is expected, "the cost associated with a noise barrier is not a sustainable solution."

This has sparked outrage with Ryarsh resident Daniel Mortimer saying villagers are being treated unfairly.

"All we want is to be treated the same as the other areas around the motorway," said the campaigner who lives in Roughetts Row just yards from the M20.

Citing daytime noise measurements taken before Highways England removed roadside trees in February, the 40-year-old believes it is likely night-time levels are at a point which the World Health Organisation associates with lower life expectancy.

"How do you compare premature mortality with value for money? How many people have to die early before it becomes worth it?

"No-one is upset about the scheme, improvements to infrastructure benefit everybody but not at the expense of residents' health," he added.

According to Mr Mortimer, himself and other nearby residents have said they can no longer sleep with their windows open because of the increased noise.

He is now working with the Ryarsh Protection Group, Ryarsh Parish Council, and Mr Tugendhat to write to Highways England asking for new measurements to be taken.

Despite not planning to build barriers, the company intends to replace roadside vegetation and use a road surfacing material which reduces sound from traffic but only on two of the four lanes.

The decision not to use sound-reducing material on the new carriageway's two inside lanes led to Mr Tugendhat and Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch writing a letter to Highways England last month.

Once built, the £92million upgrade will add an extra lane of traffic by replacing the hard shoulder, five new emergency refuge areas, emergency roadside telephones, and CCTV cameras.