A busy road is to be closed overnight for a week as work progresses on a controversial 725-home development.

The A2070 Willesborough Road in Ashford, between George Williams Way and the railway bridge by Julie Rose Stadium, will be shut from Monday, December 4 to Friday, December 9.

It will allow resurfacing works to be carried out by housebuilder Redrow which is constructing the first 288 homes of the new Conningbrook Park development, known locally as “Large Burton”.

The closure will be in force between 8pm and 5am.

Drivers have already faced delays in recent months after temporary traffic lights were installed to allow new access junctions to be built.

Diggers moved in on land in January when work finally began after several delays.

The first phase also includes a new home for Ashford Bowls Club, a footbridge over the railway line, new wetlands, a community centre, and a two-form entry primary school, to be called Conningbrook CofE Primary.

While work on the homes has started, it is not yet clear when the other parts of the projects will follow.

Neighbours against the plans on the nearby Little Burton estate, opposite to where the new homes will go, say they wish they had been given more notice about work starting.

Plans for the development first surfaced in 2016 and feature two access points off Willesborough Road.

The project – which is in Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan – was met with more than 1,000 objections before it was given the green light by the authority.

Developer Quinn Estates was narrowly granted planning permission by just one vote three years ago, but the developers were held up by poor water quality levels at the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve outside Canterbury.

The first batch of homes, which Quinn Estates gained planning permission for in 2020, could be ready as soon as spring 2024.

Detailed plans for the remaining 437 homes are yet to be revealed, but outline consent has been secured.