The cost of major roadworks aimed at tackling congestion on Medway City Estate, in Strood, has risen to £2.6 million.

The council is going to have put in an extra £353,000 due to "increased materials costs and third-party delays".

The project, which began in September and was due to finish last month, will see a slip road from the estate link up with Berwick Way on the A289 towards Wainscott.

This is aimed at tackling the problem of rush-hour traffic queuing to leave the estate for up to 40 minutes on an evening.

Since the works started, the Strood-bound Medway Tunnel has been reduced to one lane – causing daily traffic congestion with queues back to the junction where Asda is in Gillingham.

During a review of council's capital budget this afternoon, Cllr Phil Filmer (Con) said work would continue during off-peak hours and overnight on lighting columns and crossings.

He added: "I'd like to thank people for their patience whilst we have been doing this."

Council leader Cllr Alan Jarrett said it had been a "difficult project", adding: "The old saying 'you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs' is absolutely true.

"It's quite self-evident that if you carry out a major reconfiguration of a road scheme, there will be consequences, there will be traffic delays, there will be traffic hold ups, but the prize is what we must focus on and that project is now coming to fruition and will help connectivity going to and from Medway City Estate."

Councillors will be asked to add further funding – mostly from banked developer contributions – at their next full council meeting.

Last summer, it was confirmed the works would cost £518,000 more than first expected due to difficulties sourcing materials and rising costs as a result of demands for projects during the pandemic.

The council secured £1.7million of the initial funding from the government’s Local Growth Fund (LGF) through the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

It is understood the completion date they are working to is now March 22.