There are fears a "catastrophic" road closure caused by a large sinkhole under the tarmac could last as long as SIX MONTHS.

A councillor says he has been told work to repair damage to Kennington Road in Ashford could take far longer than planned – but bosses are staying tight-lipped.

The closure was brought in near the William Harvey Hospital after workers discovered the size of the void under the road.

Work has already been ongoing for almost two months after a report was first made about a smaller hole.

Temporary traffic lights were installed to allow Southern Water workers to investigate and repair the damage, but the extent of the repair job became clear last week.

At the time of the closure, a tentative timeline of about four weeks was cited for the work.

However, Cllr Steve Campkin (Green), who represents Ashford East on Kent County Council and sits on Ashford Borough Council, says workers have informed him the repair could potentially last as long as half a year.

In a statement, he added: "I am fuming. I’ve just spoken to the guys actually doing the work and they say they cannot tell us when it will be done by.

"They said at least one month, probably three months, hopefully not six months.

"The problem is that the foul pipe burst and started washing away the sand underneath the road. This led to a small sinkhole in Sandy Lane.

"On further inspection the workers found another hole, and then another.

"The whole of the road was significantly compromised and has been for months, possibly years.

"At any moment it could have given way; like when one of those HGVs was redirected down Kennington Road, or an ambulance.

"The guys working on this are doing their best. They are having to work slowly because there is a pressurised pipe nearby that is held in place by the earth around it.

"If they hit that it’s absolute disaster time."

When approached for comment by KentOnline, Southern Water refused to confirm any timeline for the works.

"We’re very sorry for the disruption this major emergency repair is causing to local residents and others," a spokesman said.

"We have discovered the void is large and it will require a lot of work to make safe and make good.

"We will work as quickly as is safe and promise to keep customers updated.”

Yesterday, police stopped six drivers caught ignoring the one-way system in nearby Silver Hill Road.

Rich Amey, who lives near the works, confirmed the hole is "massive" when he looked at the site earlier this week.

“It goes really deep in the ground; it’s been caused by an old collapsed sewer," he said.

“The engineer I chatted with said they have to fill down four to six metres; a lorry or bus full of kids could have easily gone down if the road had given way.

“Roadworks are annoying, annoy me intensely when I want to get somewhere, but sometimes they are unavoidable.”

To add to the misery for drivers, temporary traffic lights have been installed at the Kennington Road/Canterbury Road roundabout outside the Conningbrook Hotel.

Contractors put the three-way signals in yesterday to allow engineers to carry out works on an 02 mobile phone mast next to the roundabout.

The lights are set to stay in place until tomorrow (Saturday).

Meanwhile, drainage works at Drover's Roundabout should also be completed tomorrow, but the removal of Orbital Park roundabout in Sevington is to drag on until Christmas.

Earlier this week, one motorist said: "What on earth is happening on our roads? It took me 30 minutes to get from the M20 slip road to Drover's Roundabout - which should take about two minutes.

"There are catastrophic delays across the town."