Drivers are bracing themselves for another weekend of delays when part of the M20 is closed in both directions.

Highways England is to shut the coastbound stretch between junction 9 for Ashford and 11 for Hythe at 10pm on Friday to allow for the installation of another bridge at Junction 10a.

The London-bound carriageway between junctions 11 and 10 will also be closed and neither of them will reopen until 6am on Monday morning.

Earlier this month, the motorway reopened nine hours ahead of schedule after the east interchange bridge was installed over the January 12-13 weekend.

Official diversions directed drivers to the M2 and A2, but the closure sparked long tailbacks along the A20, with delays building up through Sellindge as drivers tried to avoid the motorway.

A mobile crane will be set up this weekend to put the west interchange bridge in place.

Motorist Lucy Vint says it took her an hour-and-a-half to get from Ashford to Hythe during the closure on Saturday, January 12, with scores of drivers stuck in queues on the A20.

Mrs Vint, who lives in Ashford but manages the Demelza Hospice Care for Children charity shop in Hythe, said: “There is a lorry park in Ashford so several lorries were going from the town southbound and goodness knows how many more crawled along the A20 through Sellindge.

“I do pity the people of Sellindge as they had traffic in both directions.

“I completely sympathise with the residents as it must have been a nightmare with lorries from 10pm on Friday.

"It’s going to a barrel of laughs again as they are closing it again this weekend."

'It’s going to a barrel of laughs again as they are closing it again this weekend...' - Lucy Vint

Junction 10a is due to open to traffic in September this year.

It is costing £104m and is being built just 700 metres south east of the existing junction 10.

A 50mph limit is in place around the junction - and will stay in force until 2020.