Demolition of a former railway depot which has stood empty for six years has begun.

Contractors have moved in on the disused Chart Leacon site in Beaver Lane, Ashford.

The site, which opened in 1961, was owned by Bombardier when it closed in 2014, ending the town's only surviving link with its railway heritage.

Last July, councillors approved plans in principle for a new light maintenance train depot at the spot, submitted by Network Rail.

The rail operator applied for permission for demolition of the existing structures, as well as building a two-storey workers accommodation block and 36 parking spaces.

Southeastern trains displaced from the town's Hitachi depot as a result of the £7 billion Thameslink programme are set to be housed at the new stabling yard – in short, a place to park trains between uses.

But only the sidings are earmarked for development, with the rest of the site earmarked for demolition.

In a letter sent out yesterday to residents living nearby, Network Rail's Gabrielle Kearns said contractors are "now in the process of demolishing the depot".

She did not mention the stabling yard project, but said bulldozing the site will help bosses prepare for its future use.

She said: "The railway depot has been largely unused for several years and many of the buildings and utilities have aged to the point that repairing them would be largely inefficient.

"To put the land to better use, it has been decided that the depot shall be demolished and the ground levelled in preparation for future utilization.

"There will be three excavators on the site which will be used to grab and crunch the components of the depot, beginning with the roof.

"Water will be sprayed during this process to suppress any dust.

"As the arisings start to build up, they will be crushed and distributed to level the ground."

Ms Kearns says disruption as a result of the works "may be unavoidable".

She added: "We will be erecting fence panels around the site and will be monitoring noise, vibration and dust levels throughout the duration of the works.

"We understand the effect our activities may have on the local community and we can assure you that our teams are briefed on working responsibly in the community.

"We will endeavour to keep any noise to a minimum, though some disturbance may be unavoidable due to the nature of the work."

Network Rail says works will continue until Friday, October 30.

Contractors will be on the site from Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm.

"All teams and equipment will be accessing the site via Beaver Lane," Ms Kearns added.

"Please be assured that we will be staggering vehicle arrival and departure times to ensure that there is not a build up of construction traffic."

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