A CONTROVERSIAL plan to put a road through a Kent town's park has been thrown out.

Secretary of State Ruth Kelly has agreed with the planning inspector, following last autumn's public enquiry, that the Lowfield Street development in Dartford should be rejected.

The news was broken on Monday in a letter issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

It said: "The Secretary of State has come to the view that the environmental cost of the scheme before her is too great."

The massive scheme, by St James's Investments, included new homes and a Tesco store but the planned road through Central Park, called Park Drive, provoked uproar among local people.

The Department's letter said Ms Kelly had "given considerable weight to objectors' concerns over the Park Drive proposals".

* FOR THE FULL STORY AND REACTION, SEE THIS WEEK'S DARTFORD MESSENGER.