THE Highways Agency is scheduled to start installing six emergency gates in the central reservation of the M20 next week.

But the work will be delayed if Operation Stack is still in force.

The project will see gates put in at various points between junctions 7 and 12 of the motorway on Monday, to improve traffic flow in the event of a major incident.

The gates, due to be ready by April, will allow motorists to cross over to the opposite carriageway and continue their journey if a serious accident blocks all three lanes on the normal route completely.

But unless Phase Two of Stack, which turns the road between junction 8 and 9 into a temporary lorry park, is lifted by Monday, the work will be put back.

The agency has already delayed major road works on the A20 through Dover scheduled to start at the beginning of this week because of Operation Stack.

Quick movable barriers that will open up a similar contra-flow system on the M20 in the event of Operation Stack are not due to be installed until the summer.