Residents’ fury as the one highway by Britain’s smallest city closes for six months so the mayor can restore his £1million home

The only road through Britain’s smallest town is set to close for six months – so repairs can be carried out to the mayor’s £1million house.

The busy route through Fordwich, on the outskirts of Canterbury, Kent, will close between April and September to allow for ‘essential’ work on the Grade II-listed property.

Residents say the length of the closure is ‘absurd’ as it will force many to endure long detours to get to work, supermarkets, doctors’ surgeries and other facilities.

It also means that many of the 6,000 drivers a day who use the town as a cross-city ‘rat run’ will be forced onto the already congested A28 Sturry Road.

But the Mayor of Fordwich, Barney Riggs – who has owned the ‘iconic’ Manor House for seven years – says the repair work is unavoidable.

He says the old lime and wattle plaster frontage panels on the 16th-century property have been crumbling and falling down onto the pavement and street below, creating a ‘significant public safety issue’.

A temporary fix is in place, but restoration experts need to use scaffolding to carry out permanent repairs to the building on the corner of King Street and High Street.

It will mean the road having to be shut to through traffic, essentially splitting the town in two and leaving residents facing detours of up to seven miles on already congested routes.

Retired teachers Gerry and Chris Frisby, who live on the High Street side of the planned closure, say they were ‘gobsmacked’ when they learned about it.

‘Six months! We couldn’t believe it,’ said Mr Frisby.

‘To be honest, we both saw red because it’s going to cause us a real headache trying to get around. I know a lot of neighbours are absolutely fed up about it too.’

Those living on the same side of town as the Frisbys will not be able to drive to Sturry or the many supermarkets off Sturry Road without taking a lengthy diversion through Canterbury city centre.

Mrs Frisby added: ‘It’s quite absurd. It’s just going to be a nightmare to get in and out of the town.

‘Things like going to Asda or the doctor’s surgery in Sturry will involve a huge detour through the city centre.

‘We also go to Tankerton several times a week and that’s going to add serious time and cost to the journey.

‘I appreciate it’s a heritage building and the work needs doing, but a six-month road closure is just unacceptable’.

Janet Hurst, who lives in the High Street, says the closure will cause considerable disruption to those attending a wake for her father – who died last week – as it is due to be held at the town’s George and the Dragon pub.

‘There’s no doubt it will also be very inconvenient for trips to places like Asda and M&S in Sturry Road too,’ she added.

Manor House was built in the mid-16th century and was once home to artist Alfred Palmer, who is recognised by a Blue Plaque on the property as the founder of the East Kent Arts Society.

It was bought by Mr Riggs – a policy advisor for the government – for £865,000 in 2018 and is now reported to be worth upwards of £1 million.

Mr Riggs, who is also the chairman of Fordwich Town Council, has written to many of the town’s 400 residents thanking them in advance of the work for their ‘understanding and co-operation’.

He said: ‘We can’t just let the house fall down around our ears so have been working with heritage buildings experts and Kent Highways for a long time to find the best solution.

‘The decision to close the road was taken out of our hands by Kent County Council (KCC) after all other options were looked at.

‘One of the main issues would be the need to create a temporary new 1.5-metre wide footpath if the road was kept open, with traffic lights and single-file traffic.

‘But it was felt that just wasn’t practical as it’s very narrow and the traffic would become too backed up.

‘I know the closure will inconvenience residents, for which we apologise, but we have tried to find ways to minimise the impact.

‘Some people actually welcome the idea of less traffic in Fordwich, which has been an issue for years, especially when most of it is drivers using the town as a rat-run.’

Mr Riggs says the work is being carried out in two phases – with King Street closed first and then High Street – so access can be maintained at all times to homes in The Drove, School Lane and Yew Tree Gardens. 

It also means the Michelin-starred Fordwich Arms pub will not be shut off at any point, but some customers will face lengthy detours to reach the venue.

Owner and chef Dan Smith says it will prove ‘incredibly frustrating’ for the business.

‘We have a good relationship and communication with [Mr] Riggs and appreciate the issue he is dealing with,’ he said.

‘But the road closure is KCC’s decision. They haven’t consulted with us about it and a six-month closure seems a bit unnecessary.

‘It’s going to involve quite a lot of extra work in letting our diners know that they should allow a lot of extra time for their journeys to get to us, depending on which direction they are coming from.

‘It’s just incredibly frustrating for everyone and other businesses in Fordwich.’

A traffic regulation notice published by KCC says the closure could be in place until September 30.

But Mr Riggs says he hopes with fair weather the work will be completed sooner.

‘We needed to give ourselves enough of a window to complete the work because it’s a very technical process,’ he said.

The closure is expected to add to huge jams expected in Canterbury when roads around the Westgate Towers are hit by a year’s worth of closures from April 22.

A regeneration project will see St Peter’s Place shut to all vehicles heading towards the historic landmark for about five months, before the closure is reversed.

London Road and Rheims Way – on the city’s ring-road – are expected to bear the brunt of the diverted traffic and are already notoriously congested at peak hours.

Sturry Road – a route also regularly gridlocked during rush hour – will pick up the majority of vehicles diverted away from Fordwich.

But KCC has defended allowing works impacting two major routes into the city to take place at the same time, telling KentOnline the ‘two diversion routes do not affect each other’.