This time 10 years ago, one of the crucial routes through Canterbury was blocked as part of a hated - and short-lived - traffic management scheme.

The Westgate Towers traffic trial was introduced by the city council in March 2012 and barred all vehicles from passing through the archway, while buses and taxis could go around the 14th century structure.

However, it saw the city grind to a halt and many drivers failed to see the reasoning for the drastic change in the road network.

It meant that for the first time in more than 600 years, traffic was banned from passing through the historic gateway.

The council’s aim was to protect the Grade I-listed towers, cut congestion and improve air quality.

But in reality, it caused great upheaval on surrounding roads, and businesses complained of a downturn in trade as a result.

When the trial began, Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones - now a West Bay ward councillor - said: “Once people learn to avoid the area, it will settle down.

“Ultimately, it’s about trying to discourage drivers from the area.”

Calls for the project to be scrapped were ignored until spring 2013 when KCC, as the highways authority, pulled the plug.

Upon stepping down as the council’s chief executive earlier this year, Colin Carmichael reflected on the project.

“Personally, I still think we should have done it because it is the country’s last surviving medieval gateway, a scheduled ancient monument and Grade I-listed,” he said.

“You should not have buses and lorries going through a medieval tower. What other country in Europe would allow that to happen?”

Now, as part of the city council’s vision to regenerate historic areas of the city with its Levelling Up Fund bid, the section of road at St Peter’s Place immediately outside the towers is planned to be closed off to traffic on different occasions.

The closure would allow the space between the towers and the high street to be used as a public square during large-scale events, such as the Medieval Pageant.