Drivers are facing 'chaos' on the roads and due to weekend roadworks – as highway bosses suggest a 70-mile diversion to avoid the closure.

The London-bound carriageway of the M2 was closed last night at 8pm between junction 7 for Faversham and junction 5 for Sittingbourne.

It is expected to remain shut until 6am on Monday morning, according to National Highways, as resurfacing works are carried out.

The official diversion put in place tells motorists to go via the A2 coastbound, A20 Londonbound, M20 and A249 – a route of 69.5 miles taking around one hour and 20 minutes.

But the closure is causing long delays on roads leading to the motorway, with one motorist saying it took two hours to travel from Canterbury to Rochester.

Another reported it taking two hours to get from Herne Bay to Faversham.

One woman tweeted to say she'd been stuck at Brenley Corner for four hours with two babies in the car. Others in Canterbury said they'd been stuck for a similar amount of time.

Traffic is queuing on the A2 on approach to Brenley Corner, from both directions, and there is also congestion on the A249 southbound, towards Stockbury at junction 5 of the M2. At 7pm, there were eight mile queues from Brenley Corner, stretching back to Dunkirk.

There are two-mile queues on the A299 Thanet Way back to the Fostall turn off.

The A2 junction with Nine Ash Lane is also affected.

Kings Ferry cancelled its 10pm and 11pm University of Kent shuttle buses between Canterbury and Medway owing to the "severe" delays.

The 2pm service was still stuck in traffic at 6pm, forcing the company to send a second coach.

At Boughton-under-Blean, video footage captured a car appearing to reverse back along the A-road due to the congestion.

Several people took to social media to criticise highways bosses for not better advertising the closures, saying they would not have made the journey if they had known.

The disruption has coincided with rail strikes which means no Southeastern trains are running in Kent today.

Passengers were told to make no attempt to travel due to the walkout be members of the RMT, train drivers' union ASLEF and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA).