A new water treatment works is planned for part of the old Aylesford Newsprint site.

South East Water has submitted plans to Tonbridge and Malling council for the construction of a £39m facility in Dry End Road, Aylesford.

The company said it would make use of existing boreholes, pipework and a storage tank originally built by the newsprint company to aid its printing processes.

By upgrading the existing infrastructure, the firm said that construction costs and the impact on the surrounding area would be reduced.

Steve Ntifo is the project manager. He said: "We’re really excited to be talking about our plans with the local community for the first time.

"We are proposing to build a state-of-the-art water treatment works to produce extra drinking water so we can keep up with the future growth of the community."

If the plans are approved, it is anticipated building work will start later this year with the new site fully operational and pumping water to homes by March 2025.

Mr Ntifo said: "The new treatment works will enable us to produce an additional 18 million litres of water per day. That’s approximately seven Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water."

The public can view and comment on the plans via the council's website here.

The application reference number is 23/00139.