Business owners along a major road say they have been “left in the dark” after the route was shut for the third time in a month.

The A28 Ashford Road was closed between Ashford and Canterbury after a water pipe burst earlier in April.

The closure lasted just two days and reopened ahead of the Monday commute last week.

But later that day - and just 24 hours after the repair was made - it was shut again because of a bump in the new road surface, which remains fenced off.

Today, SGN workers have closed it completely for the third consecutive week relating to a separate issue.

It has left business owners along the stretch frustrated and uncertain about when it could reopen but they insist they are open as normal.

Daran Byrom, the co-owner of Stour Valley Game and Butchers, which is situated off the A28, says when the first closure was enforced, he found out about it after a customer rang him to say they could not get to his shop.

The 49-year-old, who has run the company alongside his business partner Steve King since 2011, added they had to throw away several pieces of meat because of the sudden road closure.

“We’re taking a third in the shop to what we normally do because of this,” he said.

“We’re in the dark because we don’t know when it might reopen.

“Blue paint has been sprayed on the road so we take it they’re going to resurface it again because the bump is still in the road.

“The owner of the country store next door is pulling her hair out like I am.

“It’s just one week after another and it might even be closed into next week because of the SGN work as well – we just don’t know yet.

“The bank holiday weekend is usually one of our busiest times too but we’re in the dark.”

SGN has now confirmed the latest closure will be in place until May 7.

Mr Byrom’s neighbouring business Chilham Feeds is run by Sue Lyndsell, who says the situation is “ridiculous” adding it has had an effect on her takings.

“It’s impacted business a lot because people don’t want to travel that extra distance around the diversion,” she said.

“But, they’re saying the road is shutting at Pope Street when it’s actually shutting at East Stour Farm so the public is being misinformed.

“The road sign has also misspelt closed.

“It was pretty terrible during the first closure, takings were down and customers were phoning to ask if they could get to us.

“It was very frustrating when it shut again because of the bump in the road.

“It was shut for a day and a half but by the time they had taken the signs down, it impacted us for two days.”

She added the route is unsafe because of a bump in the road surface following water works carried out by South East Water on April 17.

“They’ve put 30mph signs up and signs saying uneven surface but I’ve spoken to motorbike drivers who say they have taken off on the road because of it – it’s dangerous and I’m concerned for the public’s safety,” she said.

“We put a notice on Facebook to tell people but we have no idea when it might reopen – it’s ridiculous.

“We have not been told at all that the road was going to close today, it’s just happened. It’s going to leave me very poor at the end of it I think.

“We had to tell them yes, but they needed to follow a diversion and come Ashford way and go past four or five road closure signs before getting there.

“Hopefully the customers will ignore the signs and come to us but if they don’t, I’m not sure what’s going to happen.

“There should be road signs up saying businesses open as usual.”

Dan Brown, spokesperson for gas company SGN, said: “We’re carrying out urgent repairs to fix a leak on our medium pressure main along A28 Ashford Road at Chilham.

“Our engineers have been working to address this leak since mid-April and we’ve temporarily secured the leak on the affected pipe. This has been carried out under temporary traffic lights to manage safe traffic flow around our work area.

“However, to enable greater access to our pipe and complete a permanent solution, we now need to close the A28 to motorists between its junctions with Branch Road and Pope Street. A signed diversion route via the A28, A2040, A251 and A252 is in place for affected road users.

“This is a complex engineering procedure involving specialist equipment to be fabricated. The location of our pipe means we need to make a deep excavation and install trench support to complete the required repairs.

“It’s likely our site will be unmanned periodically while we wait for the specialist equipment to be delivered to site. We will however be carrying out regular site safety checks and monitoring the leak.

“We apologise for the impact on the community and road users, but this work is essential to ensuring local homes and businesses continue to receive a safe and reliable supply of gas.”

South East Water Regional Network Manager Andy Beston added: “We have now completed the repair to the burst water main on the A28 near Godmersham and returned the road to its original state.

“All repairs to the road surface will be inspected by the local highways team.”

After being contacted for comment about the latest road repair following the water works, a KCC spokesperson said speed reduction and warning signs have been put in place in this area as a temporary safety measure.

“South East Water will also be working in the area and will require a road closure. We are communicating with both SGN and South East Water to see if there could be a collaboration of traffic management.

'It is not possible to plan for emergency works, however KCC works closely with utilities to help reduce the impact on the road network.”