Churchgoers’ powers of forgiveness will be tested later this month when roads to places of worship are disrupted for the third time in three months

Church Road, near St Nicholas Church in Otham, Maidstone it was already closed for one month from mid-September to mid-October.

It was closed again on Wednesday, further along the main road, and remained closed until 5 November.

And now residents have been told the road outside the place of worship will be closed for almost three more weeks, from Monday 25 November to Thursday 12 December.

Kent County Council (KCC) said Walker Construction UK Ltd will return to the site due to “engineering difficulties” while carrying out the work previously.

Alternative route for traffic is Church Road, Deringwood Drive, Willington Street, A274 Sutton Road, Gore Court Road and vice versa.

Pedestrian access will be maintained during the works.

If you have any questions, the KCC Highways Helpline telephone number is 03000 418181.

The route is normally busy and is used by some motorists as an alternative to Willington Street to connect to the A20 from the A274 Sutton Road.

St Nicholas Church is one of the oldest churches in the borough, with parts of it dating back to the late 11th century.

The work is to move and replace the water network of Southeast Water so that the highway can be widened.