A council is to move into a town’s tallest building by the end of the year - but meetings will continue to be held in its current HQ.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) is leaving the Civic Centre in Tannery Lane in favour of 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 last November.

Now ABC has confirmed its main office, including the reception, will start operating from International House next month.

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.

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

A spokesman said: “Plans for our move from the Civic Centre to International House are on track, with the main office, including our reception, likely to open before the end of the year.

“Our contractors have been on site since the summer preparing the existing office space for our move across to the new location, which will take place in stages, so we can keep any disruption to services to a minimum.

“For residents this means that, when we move, our face-to-face customer services will be located at International House, opposite Ashford International Station, but otherwise there should be no other changes to the services we deliver.

“We will provide more details as the move progresses.”

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 its current HQ 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 to the Civic Centre, 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.

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”.

When asked whether social housing was still on the cards, the ABC spokesman said “we are working on options for that part of the project”.

"Further details are likely to come forward in the coming months,” he added.