A gas company insists it’s taking measures to stop HGVs causing traffic chaos on narrow lanes while it digs up a main road for emergency works.

It is now the second week of a five-week closure on the A229 Loose Road in Maidstone, which has had serious knock-on effects for traffic in Brishing Lane, in Loose Village and in Cripple Street and the roads through the Loose Valley.

Jayne Harris lives in Church Hill in Boughton Monchelsea. She drives a Ford Torneo and has had to give up taking her regular journey down Brishing Lane.

She said: “I can’t handle it any more. There are so many HGVs taking that road now as a way around the Loose Road closure, but there just isn’t room for an HGV and my vehicle.”

“The other day I had an HGV drive straight at me, and when I wouldn’t drive into the hedge to get out of his way, he swore at me repeatedly, calling me the C-word and all sorts.”

Mrs Harris has been a driver instructor for the past six years.

She said: “I’ve contacted Kent County Council (KCC) numerous times, telling them they need to ban HGVs from entering Brishing Lane from the Sutton Road.

“First, they told me to contact the gas company myself. Once, they told me to contact my borough councillor. Once, they told me to register a request on their website.

“I did try contacting the borough council, and of course, they just said it was a KCC problem. You just get pushed from pillar to post.”

She admitted: “There are signs at the Heath Road end saying unsuitable as a diversion, though they are largely ignored.”

Mrs Harris is left having to take a lengthy roundabout route along Heath Road, through Coxheath, and down Dean Street into Tovil, and then into Maidstone town centre.

She said: “The only alternative would be to drive down Cripple Street and through the Loose Valley, but that is jammed up just the same as Brishing Lane. And it’s a nature reserve!”

She said: “There needs to be far more signage on all these unsuitable routes, banning large vehicles. There was a car transporter that tried to go down Brishing Lane the other day. It’s absolute chaos.

“This is the second closure of Loose Road this year, and exactly the same happened before. Why did nobody learn from that?”

Last week, the historic village of Loose, with its narrow, unlit roads, also suffered from traffic attempting to find a diversion off the Loose Road, but there is better news there this week.

Loose Parish Council has been negotiating with the company that runs the traffic management on behalf of the gas company SGN.

The council has persuaded the firm to put in additional signage at four spots: the junction of Loose Road with Old Loose Hill; the junction of Loose Road with Rosemount Close (that leads through to Old Loose Hill), at the junction of Loose Road and Old Loose Hill by the village green, with other signs also going in at the other end - the junction of Busbridge Road with Stockett Lane, to deter traffic heading up from Tovil or Coxheath from entering Loose.

The signs went in this week, and read: “Access Only, Not suitable as a diversion. No HGV.”

The council has also been pushing for enhanced signage on Brishing Lane, but with less success.

HGVs could not be banned from that route entirely, because of the need for farm vehicles to access Park Wood Farm, halfway along. However, the lack of spotters at either end, the parish said, “inevitably meant that all HGVs thought they could take that route.”

The council said: “Next week, we will see additional challenges when the schools return from half-term.

“And the situation continues to be exacerbated by other sudden utility failures and further emergency works on local roads, which are being used to get into Maidstone.

“It’s incredibly frustrating for all of us.”

Roadworks started on Monday on Farleigh Hill in Tovil and will continue until November 7, while new electricity cables are laid for a housing development.

Teston Lane in West Farleigh was closed yesterday and today for pavement repairs.

Station Hill in East Farleigh was closed yesterday for water main repairs.

And Busbridge Road will be closed for two days starting on November 7 while a telegraph pole is replaced.

Meanwhile, residents in the Loose Valley are also fed up with the excessive traffic travelling down Cripple Street, Teasaucer Hill, Hayle Mill Road and Cave Hill.

Eileen Lewis has lived in nearby Bockingford Lane for 15 years. She said: “These are tiny country lanes. They were designed for a horse and cart, not the big vehicles we see today.

“Traffic was bad enough before. Even before the closure, we were getting 2,000 cars a day passing. Now it’s 10 times worse.

“They’re causing so much damage to the wildlife, to the historic buildings. Every time I walk my dog now, I take my life into my hands.

“It’s very sad to see the destruction of this beautiful area.”

Tony Hemsted, who lives at Hayle Mill, a Grade II* former papermill, said the building was now being frequently damaged by vehicles pulling in too close in an attempt to squeeze past.

He said: “This area is a nature reserve. There are hedgehogs, badgers and ducks that wander into the road. But the people using the road now are not from the valley and have no respect for wildlife. I’ve had to deal with many dead and injured animals.”

Mr Hemsted said the extra traffic volumes were also affecting the well-being of residents.

He said: “They are not able to walk up the road now, as there is no footpath and it has become too dangerous.

“And many people try not to venture out even in their cars if at all possible, because they know they will only get stuck in all the congestion.”

SGN has reported on the progress of its work to date.

The company said: “Last week was a week of preparation and investigation work on the four mains with camera surveys and trial holes dug.

“Unfortunately, we were held up by the severe unforeseen weather last Thursday, but this will not lead to any overall delays.

“This week we are replacing 600m of piping on the two gas mains on the Wheatsheaf side of the road, up to the fire station.

“We are in communication with our traffic management company, and we are feeding back the concerns and comments raised by residents.”

But speaking for SGN, Dan Brown said: ”There are no plans to alter the agreed diversion routes while this work continues.

“But we are installing additional signage, and working with a satellite navigation company, to instruct HGVs to follow the correct diversion route to avoid access to roads unsuitable for these types of vehicles.”

Loose Road is closed between The Wheatsheaf junction with the A274 Sutton Road, up to a point just north of the junction with Cripple Street, past the Fire Station.

The closure will stay in place for the next four weeks while engineers replace 1,800m of century-old gas mains.

The correct diversion route for all road users is via the A262 and A274.

Mr Brown said: “Our engineers will be working extended hours from Monday to Saturday to complete this work as soon as we can.”