Roads bosses have been urged to end upcoming overnight closures on the M20 an hour earlier to prevent a repeat of last November's "travel chaos".

Six days of disruption is due to start on Monday when the motorway will shut between junction 4 for Leybourne and junction 6 for Maidstone between 8pm to 6am.

It is part of work to turn the M20 into a Smart Motorway.

But after earlier complaints from schools that pupils were turning up late as a result of overnight roadworks, Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch has written by Highways England chief executive Jim O'Sullivan requesting a re-think.

She wrote: "Many residents have explained to me and colleagues that the advertised re-opening to the M20 at 6am is simply too late to allow the local road network to return to normal and seriously impacts on peak rush hour for a huge number of motorists and local bus services, including school services.

"Indeed as you may be aware, the recent overrunning of planned engineering works caused chaos on the surrounding network again delaying many journeys as a result.

"Therefore, as before I would urge Highways England to bring forward the planned re-opening of the M20 to 5am, which will allow the road network to return to normal ahead of peak hours and minimise any potential disruption to motorists, especially in light of the school term in the local area beginning for many on 6th January."

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