Long-suffering motorists face four months of traffic hell on the city’s busy ring road as hundreds of metres of new water main is installed.

Work is due to start along Rhodaus Town, near Canterbury East train station, on March 13 and will see the bus lane shut for 10 weeks and the closure of Castle Row for eight.

The £300,000 scheme by South East Water – scheduled to take 18 weeks – involves laying a 570-metre stretch of pipeline to cope with the new student development on the old Peugeot site.

It will run between the Canterbury Christ Church University accommodation and Pin Hill, near Wincheap roundabout, before crossing the carriageway into Castle Row.

The work will take place during normal working hours, sparking fears it will create gridlock at what is already a traffic blackspot.

Andrew Link, manager of cartridge shop Harbow in Upper Bridge Street, says it is hard enough getting around the city as it is.

“It will probably be even worse than when they closed the Westgate Towers,” he said.

“Even now without work going on it is absolutely chock-a-bloc at certain times of the day in Upper Bridge Street and all the way up to Wincheap. This work means it will be like that all day.

“As far as deliveries are concerned, this will add another 15 minutes onto our journeys. Customers will just avoid coming to Canterbury.”

John Caggiano, who runs Auntie Ammie’s just off Upper Bridge Street, says while he understands the work is necessary, it could deter people from coming to the city.

“On top of the already alarming traffic, it would impact business in putting people off coming here and instead going to Westwood Cross or Bluewater,” he said.

“I think 18 weeks sounds a bit excessive.

“Perhaps they could have waited until the schools are out, or maybe they are restricted as to when they can do it.

“It will have a big impact on business. We are coming into the tourist season and it’s going to steer people away from the town centre.”

Stagecoach spokesman Matthew Maytum was unable to confirm what the 10-week bus lane closure will mean for its customers.

“We’ve got a site meeting with the highways authority and South East Water later this week, so we can’t comment at this stage on what impact it may have on our services until we know more details,” he said.

South East Water says the new pipe is required to maintain water pressure as the new student accommodation is developed.

Some work will take place at night and weekends to minimise disruption when the pipeline is laid across the carriageway.