Amazon has pulled out of plans to build a huge distribution centre in Kent that would have created hundreds of jobs.

The online retail giant wanted to build a warehouse on an 18.5-acre plot on Waterbrook Park in Ashford, just off the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road.

The centre was approved in 2021 and was expected to open in the following year, but bosses have now confirmed they are no longer looking to pursue the development.

It is not yet clear if the firm, which already has distribution centres in Dartford and Hoo, is looking at other locations in the county to replace the Ashford scheme.

Former Ashford Borough Council (ABC) leader Cllr Paul Bartlett (Con) says he is disappointed by the move, saying it would have been good for the town’s economy.

“It had the opportunity to bring a great number of jobs to Ashford,” the Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry ward member said.

“It was a missed opportunity because it is an important brownfield site that we hoped was going to be developed, but I remain optimistic and think it will only be a matter of time before we see something built there.

“The fact that Amazon was interested in Ashford shows there is a lot of faith in the town.

“It is disappointing they pulled out but I remain confident about the future commercial development on the site, and in Ashford widely.

“We did have interest four years ago from a winery who wanted to take over the site which would have been great for the economy, but the location near Junction 10 and 10a does lean itself towards distribution.”

In a statement, an Amazon spokesman said the company is “always evaluating our network to ensure it fits our business needs and to improve the experience for our customers”.

They added: “As part of that effort, we weigh a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites or maintain a presence and, in this case, we have elected not to pursue the development at Waterbrook Park.”

The land previously earmarked for Amazon has now been put back on the market by site owner GSE Group.

The sales listing suggests the plot could be split into a number of units, or developed as one huge warehouse.

“We can confirm that the proposed Amazon warehouse planned for Waterbrook Park will no longer be coming forward,” a GSE Group spokesman said.

“To this end, we have been actively re-marketing the land for a number of months and have received a wide array of enquiries which reflect the highly prominent location of the site.

“Some of these are at a more advanced stage than others, but what we can say is that we are very excited about working with the parties currently under discussion and hope to reveal more about our new plans for Waterbrook Park in the new year.”

The announcement comes as plans for 364 homes on and around the former Ashford International Truckstop site on Waterbrook Park have been given the green light.

Developer Mulberry Homes will build its first estate in Kent on land south of where the Amazon distribution centre would have been built.

Plans submitted by GRAFIK Architecture on behalf of the developer show the homes will be made up of five two-bed flats over garages, six one-bed maisonettes alongside 102 two-bed homes, 103 three-bed homes and 148 four-bed homes.

Outline permission for the development was approved in 2018 for up to 400 homes but this has now been reduced to 364, something councillors on ABC’s planning committee welcomed.

Each home will come with an electric vehicle charging point.

As well as the homes, a convenience store, farm shop or cafe will be built in the middle of the estate next to a new roundabout.

All the dwellings will be two storeys high and 10% will be allocated for affordable housing.

There will also be a wetland area and three public open spaces, one with a play park.

After a planning meeting earlier this month, councillors voted to approve the scheme on the condition the shop remains a community space, and cannot be turned into housing in the future.

Ashford International Truckstop, which used to be on land now earmarked for the homes, moved to a larger plot on the Waterbrook Park estate in late 2021.

It used to have 410 spaces but now has 660, making it the largest lorry park in Europe.

Elsewhere on Waterbrook Park, German supermarket chain Aldi was granted planning permission last November for its second shop in Ashford.

But a condition imposed by ABC means contractors cannot start work until progress is made on a separate convenience store on the nearby Finberry housing estate.

The discount retailer has now launched a petition against the move as it fears Finberry residents "will continue to have no local food store for several years".

Alongside Aldi, a new Taco Bell drive-thru is also earmarked to open, as well as the town’s fourth KFC.

If approved they would sit to the north of the new homes and share a car park.