Car parks at Kent's nine county parks will be closed.

Yesterday, Kent Conty Council confirmed it will be keeping the parks open despite concerns they could lead to coronavirus spreading.

Last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country on lockdown.

This morning, country parks team announced the car parks will be closed to make it easier for people to social distance.

A spokesman said: “We agree with the government view, that parks are an important community facility and can be the ideal venue for personal exercise.

“However, in an effort to keep the numbers manageable and to facilitate the required social distancing, we are closing our car parks. We will continue to welcome visitors who arrive on foot or on horseback.

“We will continue to monitor the number and behaviour of visitors to ensure that the government’s guidelines are adhered to.”

There are nine parks which are spread across the county with a range of activities and attractions.

The nine are: Brockhill Country Park near Hythe; Lullingstone Country Park in Eynsford; Pegwell Bay Country Park in Cliffsend; Grove Ferry Picnic Park in Canterbury; Manor Park Country Park in West Malling; Shorne Woods Country Park in Gravesend; Teston Bridge Country Park near Maidstone; Trosley Country Park in Dartford and White Horse Wood Country Park near Maidstone.

The National Trust already closed its properties and parks.

In Kent, that has affected several popular attractions including Smallhythe Place near Tenterden.

However, some parks are closing like Jeskyns Community Woodland in Gravesend.

The popular destination is managed by Forestry England which said the decision had been made is to keep the public, staff and volunteers safe.

Maidstone Borough Council have also announced it will be closing its parks 'with immediate effect.' Swale council will shut all its children's play areas from tomorrow.

Essex County Council has already moved to close its parks.

Meanwhile Betteshanger Country Park at Sholden near Deal is remaining open.

A spokesman said: "Our intention at this moment in time is to keep Betteshanger Country Park open to the public, but with a number of steps taken to comply with government social distancing advice.

"These include: Closing the playground area with immediate effect and halting our bike hire service.

"We would ask all visitors to our wonderful park to be sensible and take heed of official guidance by using our hand sanitisers and keeping their distance (at least two metres apart) from other people, to reduce the risk of infection from Covid-19.

Our desire is to keep Betteshanger Country Park open for as long as we are able to given how important it is for the wellbeing of people in the locality to have access to space and fresh air in the coming weeks and months.

That said, we will continue to monitor the situation, including adopting any further guidance issued by Public Health England and will update further, in due course, if the position changes."

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