A Chinese consortium wants to build a luxury country manor hotel and up to 150 villas on the outskirts of Ashford.

The state-of-the-art development, which has been likened to Eastwell Manor in Boughton Aluph, would be built on fields near Charing if given the green light.

The developers are hoping that the four-star leisure facility would attract hordes of tourists looking to take advantage of the village’s strong transport links to London and the rest of Kent.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) leader Gerry Clarkson, who represents Charing, says the multimillion-pound scheme will draw visitors from China.

“It will be a tourism attraction and I think it is the sort of development that will be acceptable to local people because it will bring in an influx of visitors,” he said.

“It will be a country house hotel and spa which will bring in tourists from overseas.

“It should be noted that this proposal has yet to receive planning permission and the views of the parish council and residents will be sought as part of the planning process. The administration welcomes inward investment but it must be of an appropriate nature and be in the right location.”

The unnamed Chinese developers want to build on land off Pluckley Road just outside the village, close to the M20 and high-speed rail link.

They are yet to lodge a planning application, but a public consultation detailing the scheme will be held within the coming weeks.

Between 100 and 150 holiday villas are expected to be built around the main hotel and spa, which would be surrounded by cycle and running paths as well as formal gardens and lakes.

It is thought a full planning application will be lodged with ABC next sprin

Cllr Clarkson added: “From the hotel, people will be able to go to the Ashford Designer Outlet, Leeds Castle and everywhere else in Kent.

“It will be a nice location to come to and the investment from China means the developers will already have a core tourist market.

“People won’t bring their cars as they will be using public transport so there won’t be a great deal of traffic, which will help Pluckley Road.”

Cllr Clarkson said: “The town is buzzing at the moment.

“The development will be very good for Ashford.”

Jill Leyland, who is the chairman of Charing Parish Council, said that she is keen to hear more about the scheme.

She said: “We see that there could be a number of potential advantages for Charing including employment, more customers for local shops and new facilities that residents could use.

“Our main concerns at the moment are the impact on traffic and the potential, if it were to fail, that the buildings would simply become new housing in an area where additional housing would not be welcome.

“We would also hope that the plans respect and deal sensitively with the heritage of the site.

“It is early days and we look forward to hearing more. We understand that a public consultation will shortly be held and we welcome that.”

Ashford isn’t the first place in Britain to attract investment from China, which is the world’s most populated country and a major overseas investor.

Its reformed economy has made it one of the globe’s fastest-growing, and it is also a leading exporter.

Despite the Brexit referendum and the Chinese government’s capital controls, the country’s interest in London’s property sector has continued to surge.

Research from the Savills real estate firm found Chinese investors accounted for £805 million of the £841 million of transactions in the West End’s commercial property market in January this year.

In football, six English clubs have secured Chinese investment money over the past two years, with investors from the country also showing an interest in taking over Newcastle United.