Southeastern has again informed people they need to take a 10 minute detour at Stone Crossing Railway Station as the level crossing is closed due to lack of staff.

A tweet posted this morning by the train operator informed pedestrians of the problem saying therewe not enough staff to open it.

It is not the first time the level crossing has been closed, and according to Southeastern, it is Network Rail staff who operate the gates.

Because of the closure, anyone wanting to cross from the station has to take a 10 minute detour around the crossing to cross the tracks.

The level crossing can only be operated by staff and this morning, a tweet informed people the level crossing would be closed because of staff shortages.

The tweet read: “The crossing gates at #StoneCrossing are closed because of a staff shortage today. Sorry for the inconvenience caused by this.”

The news comes after assurances were given by Network Rail that the station would be staffed between 5am and 1am after pressure from Dartford MP Gareth Johnson and Cllr John Burrell, the chairman of Stone Parish Council.

Both were concerned the crossing had been manned only between 5am and 5pm despite assurances from Network Rail in 2014 that it would be manned from the first to the last train.

Network Rail said it was due to a combination of staff sickness and annual leave, which Mr Johnson said was unacceptable.

“Leaving the crossing unmanned is dangerous,” he said. The increased man hours were introduced in September.

A spokesperson for Network Rail, said: "Unfortunately due to a staff shortage we have had to close the barriers at Stone level crossing today.

"We're advising anyone who would like to use the crossing to allow extra time for their journeys and take their most convenient alternative route.

"We'd like to apologise for the inconvenience this is causing."