The landlord of a popular village pub says he has already lost almost £1,000 in the first few days of six-week road closures.

Teston Road, Wrotham Heath, near West Malling, is partially shut to allow UK Power Networks to install new underground cables.

It was sealed off between the junction of Seven Mile Lane and Aldon Lane, on Tuesday (May 7) and will remain so until Friday, June 21.

However, the landlord of The King’s Arms, in Teston Road, Offham, thinks it is not clear that the entire road is not closed so many motorists are avoiding the village altogether.

Matthew Scullion said he usually has around 20 to 30 customers a day at lunchtime but only had three on Tuesday and four on Wednesday due to the closure.

The 33-year-old added: “It has just dropped overnight. I could tell straight away that the road was closed.

“Nobody is bothering to come down and we should be really busy with the weather but we are not.

“It has 100% stopped people from even driving down although they can get to us.

“It is a busy road but people from Borough Green, Kings Hill and West Malling think they cannot get here. We rely on people being able to drive here.

“If it were only for a week or two it would be fine but because it is so long we will struggle massively.

“We are normally a very popular venue but we still need the customers to survive through this period so when the road is reopened we are still here.

“We cannot carry on losing this much trade.”

Matthew, who has had the pub for three and a half years, said the business has lost around £400 a day since the road works started.

Despite still being able to access the public house and garden centre Spadework, from Teston Road, at the junction with King Hill and St Leonard’s Street, multiple signs say there is no through route and the road is closed.

Matthew added: “Please ignore the signs from that direction, you can still get to us.”

Another sign has since been placed at the junction which states: “King’s Arms Public House, business open as usual.”

In a letter to residents, UK Power Networks stated it would be installing new underground cables which involves excavating short trenches to lay the pipework and pull through the wires.

It is to provide a new connection to its electricity network for customers.

A spokesman for the energy company added: “We are working to provide appropriate signage for our traffic management measures, which have been agreed with the local authority’s highways department.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”