THE notorious Bob Dunn Way has finally been reopened today (JAN 27) after weeks of being submerged in water and stretching the relationship between Kent County Council and Dartford Council to "breaking point".

The road in Dartford was closed for a number of weeks and some motorists got so frustrated many moved the cones and drove straight through.

Kent County Council (KCC) representatives said it had remained flooded for so long because the water table had risen above the road surface making it impossible to pump the water away but Dartford Council has criticised KCC's handling of the incident, saying it was "wholly unacceptable".

A Dartford Council spokesman said on Friday: "Our council's bosses have admitted that KCC’s failure to reopen Bob Dunn Way following floods over Christmas has stretched the relationship between the two authorities to breaking point.

“We do not blame KCC for the extreme weather or for initially prioritising areas where lives and houses were threatened but we are now a month on and this major road remains closed.

"Our complaint is that in the intervening weeks there has been little or no communication with motorists and few signs of any firm plan to reopen the highway.

News Shopper: PICTURED: Flooding causes closure of A206 Bob Dunn Way in Dartford

"Our interventions yesterday did bring a confirmation the County Council will finally use its Section 100 powers to remove water to adjoining land but even this was qualified with a statement that work would be subject to ‘resource availability’.

"That is totally unacceptable.”

News Shopper has approached KCC for a statement.

BBC Kent Radio presenter and Twitter user @patmarsh said: “I propose that we close Bob Dunn Way in #Dartford to throw a street party to celebrate its re-opening.”

On Friday Dartford MP Gareth Johnson visited Bob Dunn Way to quiz KCC bosses about what they were doing to resolve the situation.

Gareth Johnson MP said: “The opening of Bob Dunn Way has been a long time coming. This closure had caused enormous disruption for both motorists and local residents.

“The key thing now is for Kent County Council to get permanent pumps in place which will minimise the chances of there having to be closures in the future.”