Residents living near a major crossroads that faced weeks of disruption during gas works say they have been left with “ridiculous” road markings.

The A229 Loose Road in Maidstone was shut for six weeks at its junction with Cripple Street and Boughton Lane, only re-opening on June 1.

The closure caused major traffic disruption across the southern half of Maidstone.

The road is now fully reopened and traffic is flowing again, but there have been some scathing remarks about the way the contractors have left the road markings.

They have only repainted over the parts where the road was resurfaced over the excavations, leaving the rest of the paint faded or worn away.

It has resulted in just the odd letter picked out in shiny new white paint in a sign warning slow, and just snippets of hatchings in bright yellow in what should be a box junction.

Sarah Leeson, who lives in Cripple Street, said: “It looks absolutely ridiculous. Why couldn’t they have completed the job?”

Sean Carter is the traffic spokesperson for Loose Parish Council.

He said: “We have long been pressing Kent County Council (KCC) to renew the road markings in any case.

“Back in January, Kent Highways projects manager Barry Stiff agreed that KCC would repaint the yelllow box junction and the stop lines in Boughton Lane and Cripple Street.

“But of course, that was put on hold when the gas works started.

“We have been back on to KCC last week, and Barry has again said the work will be done imminently.

“But it is a ludicrous situation.

“The gas boys say they are only obliged to reinstate the markings that they obscured, but I watched them doing what work they did do. It took them no time at all.

“The box junction is not very big. They could easily have gone on to do a complete job.

“The road was still closed at the time.

“Now when KCC comes to do the job, there will have to be another road closure, even if hopefully only for few hours.

“It’s a symptom of the way things are these days. Nobody seems to have any common sense anymore.”

Brian Shingleton is another resident of Cripple Street. He expressed some sympathy with SGN, the gas contractors.

He said: “They have done what they are obliged to do. Obviously, to do more would incur an expense for them.

“It’s KCC who is at fault. They had already allowed the yellow box to fade away so as to be next to useless before the gas works started.There’s no point in having a yellow box if people can’t see it.

“KCC was notorious for never wanting to spend money under the previous administration.

“Now Reform UK are in charge. If they want to prove they are up to the job, they need to get their finger out and get this sorted.

Paul Thomas is the newly elected Reform UK county councillor for the area.

He said he had already contacted the highways department about the poor markings.

He added: “Actually, there are worn and faded lines all over the county. A lot of the work is budget dependent and it seems highways has become reactive rather than implementing a regular maintenance schedule.”

He said he had asked for “a big review” of the whole way the Loose Road works had been handled.

He said: “It started as an emergency closure and then slipped into becoming a regular closure. But there was no proper planning of traffic diversions or how to deal with school buses. It was organised chaos.”

A spokesman for KCC said: "Utility companies have a legal obligation under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA) to reinstate road surfaces, including markings, to a high standard following streetworks.

“In this instance, SGN has fulfilled its statutory duty by repainting the lines where required.

‘However, KCC recognises that current legislation does not always require the full reinstatement of road markings, which can result in roads appearing only partially completed.

“We are committed to working with partners to improve the visual and functional quality of our roads once works are completed.

‘We do have plans to refresh the remaining road markings at this location.

“We are mindful of the disruption caused by recent closures and will carefully coordinate the timing of this work to minimise further inconvenience for local residents."

Simon Collins, speaking for gas company SGN, said: "We recently completed an important gas upgrade project in the Loose Road area of Maidstone, which will ensure that local homes and businesses continue to receive a safe and reliable gas supply for years to come.

“Once we completed our work, we then reinstated the road and restored the road markings that we had removed.

“Maintaining road markings, including where markings have faded over time, is the responsibility of the local highways authority, and we understand that Kent County Council is planning to do this along Loose Road in the near future.”