Part of a motorway bridge is to remain shut for the rest of the week after a “bounce” was detected due to “loose” fixings.

The inside two lanes of the London-bound M2 on the approach to Junction 2 for Strood and the A228 have been closed since last Tuesday (September 12).

National Highways’ decision to shut off the slip road lane and the inside lane has resulted in daily tailbacks. A 50mph temporary speed limit has also been brought in.

It had hoped repairs to the bridge joint could be made last week but now says work won’t start until the weekend, due to having to wait for specialist parts to arrive from abroad.

A National Highways spokesman said: “These parts are expected to be in the country by the end of this week with a repair scheduled to start on Saturday night (September 23).

“At this stage it remains unclear if the northbound (London-bound) carriageway will need to be fully closed while the repair takes place, but a further update will be provided closer to the weekend.”

They added: “On Tuesday (September 12), during a routine inspection, a section of the London-bound carriageway was found to have a ‘bounce’ of around 20mm.

“This was subsequently discovered to be due to a number of retaining fixings working themselves loose and a closure of the inside two lanes was put in place for the safety of those using the bridge.”

Operations manager for the south east regional control centre, Mark Hallett, apologised for any inconvenience and stressed that all steps were being taken to carry out the “”complex repair” as quickly as possible.

He added: “These specialist parts are not routinely held in storage by our contractors meaning a delay until the repair can be completed.

“Due to the safety of those using the bridge, it will be necessary to keep the temporary two lane closures and speed restriction in place this week and National Highways appreciates road users’ patience while this issue is resolved.”