The whole of Sittingbourne High Street will no longer be closed to make way for the town's Friday market following a change of plan by Swale council.

The successful market was to be moved from The Forum car park to the High Street as part of the £57 million Spirit of Sittingbourne regeneration scheme.

But the plan has now been postponed after shop-keepers raised concerns about the whole of the High Street being shut to traffic.

Travel companies Arriva and Chalkwell were putting the finishing touches to their plans to move bus stops to the back of The Forum when the changes were shelved.

The plan was to come into effect later this month and would have meant buses changing their routes. Passengers would no longer have been able to travel from East Street.

Arriva, which had already issued an alternative timetable, is now considering what to do.

A Chalkwell statement said it had planned to move all buses out of the High Street every day to save running different timetables on market days.

But a spokesman said it now had a short time to switch plans back following the council’s about-turn.

A Swale council spokesman said: "The initial idea to close the whole length of the High Street for the Friday market was revised following feedback from local businesses which wanted the lower end to remain open.

"This has now been incorporated into the plan which has been widely welcomed by retailers and we are working with Kent Highways to plan the necessary works to make the market move a success.

"The date of the relocation is still to be confirmed as we are working with the developers and Kent Highways to try to co-ordinate the timings with the works being planned as part of the wider town centre regeneration."

He added: "We are keen to avoid carrying out any infrastructure works which would only need to be replaced as part of the changes to the road layout for the regeneration scheme and want to try to manage the potential disruption to traffic while the works are carried out."