Plans to build hundreds of homes and office facilities on the former Aylesford Newsprint site have been withdrawn.

Council chiefs were due to discuss proposals put forward by planning agents Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) to transform the old paper mill at a meeting on Thursday.

The scheme would have seen 120,000sq m dedicated to business use and the southern part, flanking the M20, used for up to 450 houses.

A two-form entry school and a dedicated community facility were also included in the proposals for the site, which closed in 2015, putting hundreds of employees out of work.

However, a damning council report has since revealed a number of issues with the proposals, with bosses set to refuse the application at this week's meeting.

Among the concerns outlined are fears of flooding in areas outlined for housing, "severe" traffic problems, as well as the loss of designated employment land, for which the council says "there is no justification".

The town hall then received an email from administrators KPMG on Monday confirming that the application had been formally withdrawn.

Officers said in the report due to be discussed this week: "The application was submitted back in October 2016 and as members will expect throughout the course of the application, officers have made significant efforts to work with the applicant in an attempt to establish whether the outstanding issues could be overcome allowing for the development to come forward in an acceptable manner.

"It is clear that process has now become exhausted and whilst the applicant has been afforded the opportunity to withdraw the current application and seek to engage with the council on potential alternatives for the site that accord with policy, this has not happened and it is necessary to make a

determination on the scheme as it currently stands, in light of the technical evidence and statutory representations received."

A spokesperson from KPMG said: "“We can confirm that the decision has been taken to withdraw the current planning application for the Aylesford Newsprint site in order to give the administrators, their planning consultants and advisors more time to analyse and address the concerns that have been raised by the council.

“The Aylesford Newsprint site is a significant site comprising in excess of 100 acres and there have been numerous requests from the Council for further and more detailed information to support our application for a mixed used development."

Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch hopes there is still a future for the site.

She said: "I''m pleased the application was withdrawn, my understanding was it would've been rejected anyway.

"I think the site was not suitable for residential property. However I do think we need to boost local economic productivity, I would welcome a future application which replaces what we've lost in terms of jobs at the newsprint site."

Lambert Smith Hampton declined to comment.