Aerial images show the development of a divisive new Aldi supermarket ahead of its opening next year.

The German discount chain controversially proposed plans for a new store on A28 Canterbury Road, Kennington, in 2021.

Having submitted full, detailed proposals a year later, the company's application was given the green light at an Ashford Borough Council (ABC) planning committee meeting in March.

The store, on a brownfield plot between the Holiday Inn and M20 on A28 Canterbury Road, will be built on the former Houchin Social Club site which was gutted in a fire more than 25 years ago.

Aldi has since revealed the supermarket is planned to open in mid-2025.

And now, eight months after the scheme was given the nod, work to clear the site and level the ground can clearly be seen on the plot.

Drone images show vegetation being cleared, with several vehicles just metres away from the stretch and behind the Holiday Inn car park.

Multiple building blocks at the entrance to the site have also been moved having been positioned there in the summer.

Aldi has confirmed full construction will begin in the coming weeks.

Once built, the store will create up to 50 jobs on a 1.85-acre plot previously earmarked for a Miller and Carter steakhouse.

But the plans have not been welcomed by all.

Some residents have labelled the proposal as "crazy" and a future "nightmare" due to the predicted impact on the already congested A28.

This is alongside the addition of a new access point and traffic lights within 100 yards of existing signals at the road's junction with Simone Weil Avenue.

Another set will be added at the junction with Cemetery Lane, which leads to Longacres Bybrook Barn, to create a staggered crossroad.

The Ashford-bound bus lane which currently runs to just short of the M20 bridge will also be reduced to stop at Kinney’s Lane.

Alongside its existing store in Victoria Road, which opened in 2018, Aldi is set to open its third Ashford store at the same time as the one in Canterbury Road.

It submitted plans for a store in Waterbrook Avenue, just off the A2070, in 2021.

But despite gaining permission for the application in November 2022, a two-year dispute followed.

A condition imposed by ABC meant contractors were unable to start work until progress was made on a separate convenience store on the nearby Finberry housing estate.

Having launched a petition against the move, work on the long-awaited supermarket was finally resolved last month following talks with the authority.

Both have agreed on a deed of modification - a legal document that allows parties to amend terms of Section 106 legal obligations. This is a developer contribution designed to offset the effect of building new schemes.

Aldi is just one of many developments looking to move into Waterbrook Park, which sits off A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road.

Plans for a new Taco Bell drive-thru and Ashford’s fourth KFC were approved in May, while a David Lloyd health club is set to be built on land opposite.

Drone images show earthworks being carried out across the scheme with a digger, multiple vehicles and building hubs now visible nearby.

Two piles of waste and a new entrance point can also be seen.

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The site, which is set to feature three tennis courts and four swimming pools, will be built on a site previously earmarked for a huge Amazon warehouse.