AS ROYALIST soldiers retreated along Week Street after losing a key battle in the English Civil War, they certainly had no major gas mains work to contend with.

And, thanks to some foreward planning, neither will their 21st century counterparts.

Thanks to a re-jig in the timetable, gas works along Week Street have been put back to allow for the 360th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Maidstone to go ahead unhindered.

The re-enactment of the battle, which took place at the junction of Gabriel’s Hill and the High Street in 1648 and was a turning point in the Civil War, takes place on Sunday, June 1.

And, as the re-enactors return to their day jobs, contractors will move in on Monday, June 4, to dig a trench in the middle of Week Street.

Southern Gas Networks, which has been replacing cast iron pipes with plastic ones in the town centre for more than a year, said pedestrians would still be able to reach shops and businesses from either side of the trenched street.

Week Street is the final stage of the works which will last until November.

Work will start from the Brewer Street end with shorter periods of work taking place in Earl Street, Union Street, St Faith’s Street and Brewer Street.

A Southern Gas Networks spokesman said: “We will do everything we can to make sure businesses can still have deliveries. A screen will block off noise and dust.”