Motorists outraged after road chiefs forget to remove 50mph speed limit until a year after repairs were finished

Motorists using a dual carriageway have suffered unnecessary delays for more than a year after road chiefs failed to remove a 50mph speed limit sign.

Transport officials yesterday admitted that not only had the 50mph signs wrongly remained on display, but the cones that cordoned off the site should have been removed when repairs finished in February last year.

The cones were left out on a half-mile stretch of the London-bound A2 in Boughton, near Canterbury.

However, the failures only came to light following a Freedom of Information request made to the Highways Agency.

An agency spokesman apologised for the mistakes, saying the 50mph limit in place after works ended "was advisory and not mandatory".

She admitted signs showing two lanes merging into one were also out of date, because both lanes had been open since last February.

Yesterday motorists accused the agency of creating a hazard with the outdated signs.

Brian MacDowall, of the Association of British Drivers, said the signs could have caused pile-ups.

He added: "For the amount of taxes we pay, they should be able to have the signs there when they are required and taken down when they are not.

"I have gone through there at well over 50mph sometimes, because I know there are no roadworks happening."

Oliver Graham, 32, said: "For 13 months hundreds of thousands of motorists going into London have faced 50mph signs, when it should have been 70mph, signs saying that one lane is closed when it is not and traffic cones all over the place when there is no work going on."