A council has officially moved into a town’s tallest building almost two years after the plans were put forward.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) has left the Civic Centre in Tannery Lane and switched to International House - an office block it owns a short distance away.

After initially putting forward the idea as part of budget savings proposals in spring 2023, councillors approved the move in November that year.

Now, more than one year on, the local authority has made the 500-metre journey across the Great Stour river to its new home opposite Ashford International Station.

ABC has confirmed its main office, including reception, is operating from International House today.

But the ‘civic suite’ section of its current base, including the council chamber where meetings are held and the mayor’s parlour, will remain in Tannery Lane into 2025.

It says plans to move those parts of the building to International House “will be explored further” next year.

A spokesman for ABC said: "Taking place in phases, our main back office and staff have moved across, including our customer service reception, which is now open at the new location, from Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm.

"For residents this means our face-to-face customer services are now located at International House in Dover Place but otherwise there should be no other changes to the services we deliver.

"Contractors have been on site since the summer preparing the existing office space at International House for our move across to our new base, which will take place in stages, so we can keep any disruption to services to a minimum."

ABC owns both the Civic Centre and International House - the latter of which it purchased for £7.9 million in 2014.

But rising costs at the Civic Centre mean the building has become increasingly unviable at a time where the authority needs to make huge savings.

Prior to the pandemic, ABC invested about £70,000 on improvements, but further bills for upkeep are expected in the coming years.

Bosses say the move to International House is expected to save about £1.3m.

Meanwhile, questions continue to remain over the future of the Civic Centre once the move is complete, with housing on the cards.

ABC leader Cllr Noel Ovenden previously said “there is no intention of mothballing” the building, adding “we are absolutely pretty sure that we can deliver social housing”.

Following the move today, an ABC spokesman added: "We are working on options for the future of the Civic Centre site.

"Further updates for that part of the project will be announced in due course."