A developer is under pressure to repair a road which collapsed two days before Rochester's Dickensian Christmas weekend.

Part of Gas House Road has been cordoned off since the collapse, thought to have happened due to works carried out by developer Countryside.

One staff member from a nearby business said: "Countryside have bought the land around the area and are developing it.

"They did some work and dug up the road then filled it back – but it's started collapsing.

"This has happened right on top of Dickens weekend. They've just chucked temporary lights in and it's just a mess. They've not contacted anyone and the community around has been affected.

"We've lost out because customers have not been turning up – some people haven't been able to get to us.

"I can't fault Medway Council, they've been out and pushed the developer to sort it out, but they're talking about it taking 10 days."

On Friday evening, a pipe burst in the cordoned off section and people working in the area say it was leaking all night.

KentOnline understands Countryside is dealing with the issue and is aiming to get it "resolved as quickly and with as little disruption as possible".

The company has taken over a single road lane which requires emergency works due to unforeseen ground conditions, resulting in issues of stability of the closed single lane.

They will continue to work on resolving this issue this weekend and have put in the controls in place to limit any inconvenience caused as much as practically possible. Countryside is in touch with Medway Council on the matter.

Medway Council have been approached for further comment.