People interested in finding out about how The Open championship will affect the area are invited to a drop in session today.

Event organisers the R&A will be on hand from 11am until 8pm at Sandwich Guildhall along with representatives from Royal St George's Golf Club, Dover District Council, Kent County Council, Network Rail, Sandwich Town Council and Southeastern.

It follows KentOnline's announcement that platform improvement works at Sandwich Railway Station will begin in November.

This is part of a £4.3million scheme to get the area ready for the July 2020 event.

Nadeem Aziz, chief executive of DDC, said: “The 149th Open once again puts Sandwich on the map to a global audience.

“The detailed event planning is now underway and we’re grateful to all our partner organisations for agreeing to share the latest plans at the drop-in session.

“We’ll be keeping the local community updated regularly in the build up to the Championship, helping ensure that they can go about their business with as little disruption as possible, as well as making the most of any opportunities that come with hosting such a high profile event in the town.”

The major sporting event, running from Friday, July 12 to Friday, July 19, attracts tens of thousands of spectators, many of whom travel via train.

The railway station works are to accommodate passengers disembarking from extended 12-carriage trains.

Other works which including the creation of a new entrance will lead to closures during two weekends. Dates for which are yet to be announced.

Bus replacement services will be put in place.

Local residents and businesses can register now to receive e-mail updates about the preparations for The 149th Open at www.dover.gov.uk/TheOpen.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover