A main road set to be closed for five weeks is to reopen early.

Gas upgrades have been taking place along Pembury Road in Tunbridge Wells.

Work started along the A264, which was closed between the junction of the A21/A228 and Sandown Park, on Monday, July 24.

It was planned to coincide with the school summer holidays to “reduce disruption as much as possible”.

The upgrade involved replacing old metal gas mains and servicing new plastic pipes.

Contractor WCB Utilities was completing the changes on behalf of SGN.

The works were estimated to finish on Friday, September 1.

A spokesman from SGN said: “Earlier this month, our contractor provided additional resources to help carry out the remaining gas network upgrades in the Pembury Road area.

“This enabled our essential engineering works to progress more quickly than originally anticipated and the road will reopen approximately two weeks ahead of schedule.

“Pembury Road remains closed to motorists for safety at this time.

“This week, we’re working to make the final network upgrades, before restoring the road surface and surrounding area to its original condition.”

The gas company has confirmed that the road will now reopen tomorrow (August 18) – two weeks ahead of schedule.

Mike Martin, prospective Lib Dem candidate for Tunbridge Wells, previously told KentOnline the closure would cause “road chaos” for residents and potentially impact emergency services.

He said: "I’m delighted to see that the Pembury works have been completed ahead of schedule.

“This will be a relief to everyone in Tunbridge Wells – we’ve all suffered much worse traffic across the town during the works.

“My compliments to the contractor SGN for getting ahead of schedule.”