Ashford’s shared space is proving to be a pioneering piece of architecture, with London opening its own £30 million equivalent.

The 820-metre Exhibition Road (pictured above), which is bordered by the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, was officially opened in Kensington last week.

The new scheme - which, like Ashford’s, has a 20mph speed limit and gives pedestrians more priority - had £14.6 million of council funding and £13.4 million from the London mayor Boris Johnson.

Ashford’s shared space architect Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who offered some initial advice at the start of the London scheme, said Ashford’s (pictured left), which cost £16.5 million and opened in 2008, was still the most extensive in the UK.

He said: “The scheme in Ashford was certainly ground-breaking in the development of low-speed street design in the UK, and is certainly the largest and most extensive scheme of its kind to date.

“No other town had, until Ashford, attempted to tackle the divisive nature of a busy ring road in the way it has.

"At nearly one kilometre in length, combined with the returning to two-way on the whole ring, it is certainly the largest such scheme.”