A community organisation which runs a garden and allotments needs to raise £12,000 to keep going after asbestos was found to have contaminated the soil.

The Shepway Chariots, which has done so much to improve life on Maidstone's largest estate, also runs children's gardening club - The Shepway Shallots.

But the group's activities have been severely curtailed after the discovery of asbestos in the earth.

Organiser Nikki Gough of Lincoln Road said: "One of our volunteers was digging when he uncovered something that looked like roofing asbestos."

Digging ceased at once and experts were called in.

Their analysis of soil samples confirmed about half of the association's half-acre site is contaminated.

Mrs Gough said: "We ve had to fence that area off and keep people away.

"The problem can be overcome - but it costs money."

The layer of top soil will have to be removed and disposed of by specialists wearing protective clothing, then replaced with new top soil.

The task will be complicated by the fact that access to the garden is narrow - barely eight feet wide.

Mrs Gough said: "It's going to require an awful lot of to-ing and fro-ing with a mini-digger."

Meanwhile Mrs Gough said the discovery had hindered some of the many projects the organisation had planned.

She said: "We had funding in place for a few things - now it looks like we will lose that as well because we can't carry out the projects at the moment."

It has been estimated the remediation work will cost around £12,000 - money that the Chariots do not have.

Mrs Gough said: "It's difficult to know where to turn. No-one gives grants to remove asbestos!"

Asbestos was widely used as an insulating material in the 1960s and 1970s.

Although it is safe in a solid state, when it breaks down it forms a very fine dust that can be easily be breathed in and that dust can cause lung and heart diseases.

Long-term exposure has resulted in many cases of death from mesothelioma.

The Shepway Chariots garden was just waste land before they took it over and the scene of much anti-social behaviour. That has been almost eradicated.

Mrs Gough said: "We were hoping to branch out further into other the local area by offering age appropriate workshops, such as the University of Creative Arts offering urban art, photography and many other workshops aimed at teens.

"We are fully voluntarily run. Our priority is the community and bringing it together. This is the whole reason we started Shepway Chariots to give something back to the community."

The Chariots have so far raised £1,000 towards the cost.

They will hold a major fund-raiser on July 6 with a picnic and open day when they will be supported by the Kent Phoenix American Football team.

They have also launched a crowd-funding page on JustGiving where anyone can make a donation. Visit here.

There is hope the problem can be solved. When the Valley Conservation Society took over a patch of scrub-land in Tovil, they too found contaminated asbestos roofing. The material was safely removed and the area known as Crisbrook Meadow is now one of the most popular beauty spots in the borough.

For more information about the Chariots click here.

For more information about mesothelioma and asbestos click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone.