MOTORISTS travelling on and off Sheppey could face longer delays than usual today.

Lifting the Kingsferry Bridge, between 11am and 6pm, to the top and back down is expected to take about 20 minutes, rather than the usual three minutes in total.

This is because a generator will be used to power the bridge, to allow EDF Energy to carry out other electrical work.

An EDF Energy spokesman said: “The outage is essential to allow us to connect a new supply to a pumping station for the building of the new bridge and to connect new high voltage switchgear which serves the Kingsferry Bridge.

“We took advice from the Harbour Master on tide times and scheduled this work to take place between 11am and 6pm in order to minimise any potential disruption to traffic.”

Victoria Shooter, Network Rail press officer, said: “We are only obliged to open the bridge for commercial vessels.

“Our main priority is to cause the least disruption to road and rail traffic. Leisure crafts will be asked to wait until the tide goes down so they can pass under it or wait until there’s a few of them there so they can go through together with one lift.”

* Miles of tailbacks caused by the lifting of the Kingsferry Bridge should soon be a thing of the past for Islanders and visitors to Sheppey with the opening of the new £100 million Sheppey Crossing this summer.