With 660 parking spaces, a gym, restaurant and gaming area, Ashford is home to Europe's largest lorry park.

Ashford International Truckstop used to have 410 spaces but in December, the facility in Sevington expanded and moved from its old site, to a bigger space next door.

The move came as part of a £34 million investment which upgraded facilities such as the coffee shop, the bar and a restaurant and saw the instillation of six accommodation rooms for truckers looking for a place to rest.

Just down the road is the Sevington Inland Border Facility where drivers can process customs paperwork for the goods they are transporting.

Darren Smith, general manager at Ashford Truck Stop, who helped design the new space, says he travelled through Europe to find the best facilities to bring to Ashford.

He said: "I was given a blank canvas with this park.

"We did a survey asking drivers what they wanted and I went to Germany, The Netherlands and France to look at their facilities.

"From that we found the shower pods. They mean truckers have their own toilets, sink and shower in one place so they can get ready in one area.

"That was a key thing each driver wanted too.

"We’ve also got a gym, a lorry wash and six accommodation rooms each with a unique design and underfloor heating.

"We have wifi pods, a 24-hour restaurant, a coffee shop area, a shop, a gaming area and a private area for people to talk to their families.

"It's all state-of-the art but if you go further up the country, trucking is still stuck in the 90s.

"Inside the old truck stop was about 15 years old, it wasn't a bad facility but until you come up here you notice the difference.

"The reception area was tiny, the restaurant and bar are bigger here and there is much more space for people which is good with Covid.

"It's a much more comfortable stay here and drivers are much happier."

The upgrades have also allowed the truck stop to increase facilities for women as more female drives are entering the industry.

While it is still male dominated, Mr Smith said before Brexit there was about 2% to 3% women drivers but this has now risen to between 10% to 15%.

Despite the vast number of spaces available, truckers parking up on local roads is still causing a nuisance in Ashford, particularly on the Henwood Industrial Estate.

When the park reaches full capacity, which it often does, up to 90 drivers can be turned away each night on a week day.

Ashford MP Damian Green (Con) said he would like to see clamping powers increased in Ashford to try and tackle this, adding: "I’ve written to ministers saying there should be more powers for Ashford Borough Council to clamp lorries in parts of the town where it's a problem.

"So far they haven't agreed because you need a traffic control order to do that.

"We have learnt that clamping does work. The thing any lorry driver hates is delay, they want to get on the road after their rest time so if they think they’re going to be clamped, they won’t park there.

"In other parts of the borough we have found there used to be problems where there aren't any more.

"Higher fines might work but the key is having the enforcement powers.

"Now that we have the extra spaces at the truck stop, there is much less excuse for parking illegally but we still need to enforce against those who do."

Mr Smith added while the truck stop has helped to alleviate the problem, there is still a need for more facilities like this in the county to stop it.

He said: "An average large lorry park is around 300 to 350 spaces so we are significantly larger.

"I don’t know if that makes us crazy, but we are certainly much bigger than anywhere you would find in Europe.

"But it's required based on the numbers we’re seeing in this area. We thought we would be able to take a lot of the pressure away and to an extent we have but there is still a lot of trucks.

"It does help the situation on the roads but there is still a requirement for spaces in Kent.

"I think there is a need for more facilities like this. Especially with the new Lower Thames Crossing because there will be a lot more traffic coming down the A2.

"Personally I would look at the Brenley Corner area.

"Everything is coming down the M20 because of the IBF and the one at Dover has been approved now and when that goes in, there will be more traffic on the A2 also so there is definitely a need for more places like us."

As well as the new facilities, the new truck stop is surrounded by customs houses which can do paper work for lorry drivers if they struggle to do it themselves or if they need help before going to the inland border facility next door.

Before truckers arrive, they can check if any spaces are available on the purpose built app called My Truck Parking which cost £250,000 to create.

Mr Smith describes it as "Booking.com but for trucks" as it works in real time and tracks whether spaces are free as drivers enter and exit the park through the ANPR cameras.

The app has won awards and is being rolled out to other truck stops across the UK in a bid to push lorry parks to upgrade their facilities.

They can also use the app to pay for laundry and book a night's stay in one of the rooms.

The truck stop is in Waterbrook Park which is accessed from the Orbital Park roundabout on the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road.

Work to remove the roundabout and replace it with a traffic light junction are currently underway and lane closures in both directions are causing huge tailbacks around the facility and further into the town.

The closures will be in place for six weeks and while the traffic is a struggle, Mr Smith welcomes the upgraded access which will include a new slip road.

The old lorry park, which was on a patch of land behind the new truck stop, has been earmarked for a new 400 home development.

It's part of the wider 140-acre Waterbrook development, which will eventually house retail, a drive-thru KFC restaurant and a giant warehouse linked Amazon.

To help mitigate noise to local houses, the park is surrounded by acoustic fencing, and has 48 charge points which means lorries carrying chilled goods don't need to run their diesel engines all night.

The outside lighting also reduces during the night in a bid to help truckers sleep while being a considerate neighbour.

A night at the state-of-the art facility for a cash customer costs £32.50 which includes a £6 meal voucher.

However deals are available for account holders which can reduce a stay to around £20 to £25 a night.

The truck stop has also won an award for customer service, two truck stop of the year awards and it has just celebrated winning service station of the year prize.