Five months of roadworks are set to begin next week and the chairman of Sittingbourne Retail Association is urging residents to “ride the storm”.

The multi-million pound town centre regeneration kicks off with the closure of Milton Road on Monday until Friday, August 25.

As well as being shut off to traffic, Swale council says people on foot will also not be able to use the route.

UK Power Networks will be putting in electricity supplies for new shops at the former Princes Street depot, off Eurolink Way, including Home Bargains and Iceland’s Food Warehouse.

A small section of Dover Street, between Milton Road and the A2, will also be closed.

Then from Tuesday, August 1, St Michael’s Road will be partially closed to traffic to make changes to the layout in front of the railway station, ahead of the construction of a cinema and restaurants drawn up by Spirit of Sittingbourne.

Colwin Motorcycles is on the corner of Milton Road but director John Clarke said it had not had any notice of the work.

“It would have been nice for the council to come in and explain what was happening and how long it would be going on for,” he said.

“When Morrisons was being built we were caged in and shut off for a month, we were dead for that, but this won’t be as bad as it won’t affect access for us. But it is going to gridlock Sittingbourne if there’s an accident on the M2.”

“There’s always disruption with anything this major being built but it’s one of these things where you’ve just got to ride the storm.” - Nick Smith

Traffic on St Michael’s Road heading out of town in the Medway direction will be diverted along Station Street, the entrance to The Forum car park, until December.

Spirit of Sittingbourne says the aim is to finish the roadworks by the Christmas shopping period.

Nick Smith, chairman of the Sittingbourne Retail Association, said: “Lots of people shop by habit and when you break that habit, their business moves elsewhere which is a concern.

“I am concerned about St Michael’s Road, as that will cause gridlock, but any roads you do close in Sittingbourne will cause problems."

For more information, visit tinyurl.com/regenroadworks