Drivers are hitting out at a council for "poor and repeated repairs" on the only way in and out of their village.

They say potholes and road damage keep appearing every week, causing traffic chaos and damage to their cars.

The A228 Stoke railway bridge is the only road connecting the Isle of Grain to the rest of the Hoo Peninsula.

Receptionist Vicky Howard has lived at the end of Grain Road for more than two decades, and does not remember a time when the crossing was damage-free.

She said: "This bridge was never particularly well-built to begin with, but the pothole situation has progressively gotten worse.

"Over the last three to four weeks one pothole has been repaired several times, each repair lasting 24 to 48 hours before it goes back to being worse than it was the time before.

"Every time it is reported, an engineer is sent out, they chuck some tarmac in it and leave but this is such a busy road that without a proper repair it is never going to work.

"I think this is down to budget issues but surely coming out two to three times a week to botch it is not cost effective in the long run at all."

Vicky's partner is one of the drivers who has damaged their vehicles as a result.

She said: "Last week we had a trench in the road, several cars have been damaged, it is now extremely dangerous.

"My partner drove to work in the company van, which is fitted with sensors to ensure it is driven safely.

"He drove in the dark at 6am and he couldn't see just how huge the [road] damage was until it was too late to avoid it.

"When he arrived at work he was called in to the office for erratic driving as hitting the pothole had set off all of the sensors, it literally threw the van across the road."

Neighbour Ian Forde is active on the village's Facebook group, warning drivers of the dangers of the holes and how HGVs could be contributing to the damage.

He said: "[The] Isle of Grain has had to endure for weeks poor repairs and no action from Medway Council's roads department.

"The village's only access has seen a massive increase of HGV traffic which is clearly not up to these heavy vehicles.

"The bridge has had problems from day one with the first holes appearing weeks after it was opened. But lately, it has suffered so bad that several vehicles last week had damages tyres, wheels and suspension."

Villagers suggested using the old road, located next to the A228 bridge, as a diversion route while works are carried out, as it used to have a level crossing.

They say "a proper long-term repair" could then be done.

But Medway Council said this was removed when the bridge was installed.

Grain Parish Council is now urging residents to continue putting complaints into Medway Council.

Clerk Christine Gurr said: "This parish council has constantly sent emails in regard to the condition of the above and continual request for repairs to the many potholes that seem to appear on a regular basis – some within days of a stated repair.

"Any planning applications to Grain Parish Council always show the number of additional vehicles that require using the bridge and consideration must now be given to the residence and other users of the bridge to access their homes, schools, etc.

"Residents and other users are now suffering damage to vehicles through no fault of their own as these pot holes cannot be avoided safely.

"Grain Parish Council will continue to make note on such applications that the road and bridge are ‘not fit for purpose’.

"When this structure was first put forward, Grain Parish Council stated that should it go ahead – we would insist that the ‘old road’ keep its road surface and not be removed for just such an issue. Should the bridge be closed for an incident or major works then the ‘old road’ could be brought into use.

"We ask that all who use the bridge continue to put their complaints to Medway Council who should by now have quite a substantial file to use should a funding bid be required to repair this structure to the approved standard and not further substandard patch repairs.

"A lot of money is garnered by central government from the business rates on the Isle of Grain and Medway Council should be looking to keep this road and bridge up to standard."

Medway Council's head of highways, Alex Constantinides, said: “When potholes are reported to us, we carry out temporary repair works on the A228 Stoke railway bridge. Unfortunately, as the bridge is currently the only route into the village, we are unable to close it fully to resurface the whole road.

“We are working with Network Rail to find a way forward which will allow us to fully close the bridge and maintain access for residents.

“We would like to thank residents for continuing to report potholes to us and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”