The decision to remove a nightmare lane closure which has been causing traffic chaos has been welcomed.

The A249 Maidstone-bound is to revert to two lanes tomorrow (Wednesday, November 15) after being partially coned off since September.

The carriageway was reduced to a single lane between Grovehurst Road junction in Sittingbourne and Cowstead Corner.

It was to allow contractors to begin work on a revamp to the Grovehurst roundabout.

However, the work has been causing havoc for drivers, with long delays to commutes off the Island.

It has meant hundreds of pupils are regularly arriving late to school after sitting on buses for more than an hour-and-a-half.

Now Kent County Council (KCC) has instructed contractor Jackson Civils to fully reopen the lane while alternative traffic management arrangements are considered.

Tim Lambkin, from Minster, is managing director of Travelmasters, which runs 25 school routes between Sheppey and Sittingbourne, carrying 1,600 pupils.

The 56-year-old welcomed the decision, adding: “What's been happening has affected people's day-to-day livelihoods on the Island for a number of weeks now, so it's a great thing.

“Lifting the lane closure will have a massive impact, with a lot of grateful people.

“When the storm happened the other week, the lane wasn't closed at one point the next day and the traffic was as good as gold with no congestion.

“It means the kids, staff and parents are not going to be as stressed now.

“Teachers and their lessons aren't going to be affected by pupils coming in at different times during the morning, which has been a nightmare for everybody with children missing out on so much education.

“It has been the worst five weeks of traffic I have ever known on the Island – even compared to when they were building the Sheppey Crossing back in 2006 – so fingers crossed we are going to be going back to some sort of normality.”

However, KCC says the lane closure will return in early January.

The authority says it will work with National Highways to provide a safe traffic management system that can be put in place, which “minimises disruption as far as possible”.

The lane closure on the Sheppey-bound A249, between the Bobbing and Grovehurst Road junctions, will remain in place while work is concentrated on that side of the road.

Mr Lambkin, who says he had to fork out an extra £20,000 a month in staff overtime costs due to drivers sitting in traffic, believes better communication is needed ahead of the forthcoming closures.

He added: “When we have another one-lane system in the future, I just hope businesses and locals are spoken to so that a better solution can be found.

“Suddenly whacking a bunch of cones on a dual carriageway one morning is obviously going to have a knock-on effect on people.

“It's been costing us £20,000 a month extra in labour for wages, which is a colossal amount of money.

“So hopefully there is now a long-term plan which finds a better resolution for this construction work.

“We know this is not going to be a permanent thing, so I'm a bit apprehensive about things long-term but we'll have to see what happens then.”