Half of all UK imports could come through the new Sevington border facility, claims the leader of Ashford council.

The Sevington Inland Border Facility opened just over a year ago and has seen several teething problems since it opened.

HGV’s have been getting lost in Sevington and Mersham and when it first opened, the floodlights were compared to that of Wembley Stadium.

At a cabinet meeting on Thursday the council received an update on the lorry park where it was announced that a green buffer zone- “the first of its type”- would be placed between the site and Mersham, dependent on consultation.

A green buffer zone was first proposed to Ashford council in October 2020 after concerns from Mersham residents were raised about over development near the village.

During the discussion Council leader Gerry Clarkson (Cons) said 50% of all UK imports could come through the new facility.

He said: “Anyone who has been and seen the facility at Sevington will know that it’s an enormous site, it’s the largest of 20.

“When we put in our first funding bid from the government, we were the only one of the 20 to get what we asked for.

“Ashford is going to be dealing with something like 50% of all UK imports, 50%.

“And that’s because we are the only one of those that has a Channel Tunnel coming right into Ashford.

“All those lorries coming through there we’re going to deal with, we’ll probably have some from Dover as well because the facilities there are much smaller.

“It’s a very good thing, and not only that we were able to double our overnight truck stop as well to get them off of our roads.

“We can have a beautiful buffer zone and garden and it encourages as well natural biodiversity.”

Last month residents and councillors called for the new Brexit minister Liz Truss to visit Mersham where truckers keep getting lost.