A newly elected Kent MP has backed calls for Eurostar to return to the county.

Sojan Joseph, who represents Ashford after defeating Conservative incumbent Damian Green at last month’s general election, believes it is vital the service stops once more in the county on the way to Europe.

Eurostar suspended the service in the county in March 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, and since then passengers have been unable to get on at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, despite sustained calls for this to be reversed.

This means Kent residents have to travel to St Pancras International in London to board the train.

Mr Joseph says he will join the fight for the service to resume once more, echoing longheld views that it brings financial benefits to Ashford.

This comes as a petition urging Eurostar to resume the service nears 60,000 signatures.

In an interview with KentOnline, the new MP said: "I will be campaigning for Eurostar to come back to Ashford as it's very important.

"Eurostar told the council during the pandemic it had no intention of returning at that moment as business was no longer viable.

"Now they are back in profit, but I think what is stopping them is the additional checks which are going to be introduced.

"We may need to have further discussions about exploring other options - that could be whether there are any other providers who could compete with Eurostar.

"But the campaigners have done a great job and it's something important for Ashford and the south east.

"It would benefit the town centre and help tourism and small businesses."

The idea of other providers stepping in has been floated before.

Reports in May said Eurotunnel was prepared to offer a subsidy of £50m to help other operators run trains across the Channel.

According to the Financial Times, Yann Leriche, Getlink chief executive - the parent company of Eurotunnel - said at least five companies were “seriously” interested in starting new passenger trains between the UK and Europe.

Mr Joseph’s words come as 57,898 people have signed a petition for the service to return to the county, and after a survey revealed in March hundreds of Kent businesses want Eurostar back.

But despite this, Eurostar confirmed earlier this summer Kent residents will not see it stop in the county until at least the end of 2025.

A spokesperson said: "We will provide an update should anything change regarding this.

"We understand this is disappointing for the local communities, and we will continue to work closely and openly with the local councils on the future of the stations.”

Mr Joseph's concerns come just a month into his term as MP for Ashford and barely a year into his political career overall.

The 49-year-old, who has become Ashford’s first-ever Labour MP in the borough's 139-year history, says his role in helping the town’s residents is only just beginning.

Raised in the Indian state of Kerala, the keen marathon runner says his heritage would have continued influencing others in the borough regardless of whether he succeeded in ousting Tory MP Damian Green last month.

"In the UK, every NHS hospital and most nursing homes have nurses from Kerala," he explained.

"So a lot of the people who have migrated from that part of the country are health professionals and that has been happening for the past 25 years.

"So I think being a mental health nurse and getting involved in politics and public services has been seen as very motivating."

Having completed his nursing studies at BR Ambedkar Medical College in Bengaluru, Mr Joseph started his NHS journey at the Arundel Unit within Ashford's William Harvey Hospital in 2002.

Following its closure a decade later, he has remained in the county and worked in the likes of Canterbury and Maidstone in his role as head of nursing at the NHS Kent and Medway Social Care Partnership Trust.

However, his political career only began in May last year when he scooped the Aylesford and East Stour ward during the borough’s local council elections.

Barely a year later, he won the Ashford parliamentary seat by beating Mr Green - who had held the seat for the previous 27 years - with a majority of 1,779 after 15,262 constituents voted for him.

Mr Joseph says he is now in the process of setting up his constituency office inside The Panorama building in Park Street.

He adds he will also continue to remain at Ashford Borough Council (ABC) while representing the area in Westminster.

"If I do that now (resign), it will force a by-election which will cost £30-35,000 of public money so I will carry on to align with the Kent County Council (KCC) elections in May,” he said.

"But if I cannot serve the public as I should be, then I will probably do it before then but no date has been agreed yet."

The father-of-three, who has lived in Willesborough Lees since 2008 and whose children all attended St Teresa's Primary School, says his experience of working in healthcare will ensure it remains a huge priority for Ashford constituents during his term in parliament.

Mr Joseph said: "The demand for mental health, especially in the last four or five years, has gone up but I don't think we have enough capacity.

"The population has grown and more people have moved into Kent, especially places like Ashford with its connectivity, but I don't think the resources have kept up with it.

"Twenty years ago more people wanted to do the profession as it was very rewarding, but changes in the nursing programme have put people off.

"So with fallen recruitment, retaining people has been a hard job as well as with the cost of living going up."

Mr Joseph adds mental health is just one branch of healthcare at the William Harvey which needs addressing.

"Immediately, we need to bring waiting lists down,” he explained.

"Labour has said in its manifesto we will look at additional appointments at weekends.

"We also need to recruit more nurses, doctors and more training places which takes time, so there are two or three different strands of what needs to be done to improve things.

"Wes Streeting [Health Secretary] has ordered a detailed investigation into the NHS to look at what the issues are, so we will wait for that report to come out to see what other steps need to be done.

"So Ashford will be part of that in national planning and I will be meeting with East Kent Hospitals governors this week.”

When asked what his other goals were over the coming years, he replied: "If anything can be fixed, the town centre will be one of my top priorities.

"A motion was put forward by the Labour group to bring back the local market in Ashford to improve footfall, which is already being worked on.

"The Labour government will be looking into business rates for small businesses to get it in parity with online businesses, which would see a big difference.

"So we need to see what the council will offer for a new business to move into the town centre and so I'm looking forward to meeting with the portfolio holder, Cllr Heather Hayward (Ashford Independent), to see."

Away from healthcare, Mr Joseph says he has “first-hand experience” of the controversial Operation Brock contraflow on the M20 having driven to Maidstone for five years.

"I always went through that struggle and it wasn't a great experience driving through narrow lanes,” he said.

“At the same time, it's good we are moving as there was Operation Stack previously and people were stuck - compared to now where people are at least moving.

“But I will be meeting up with the Kent Resilience Forum to see whether it needs to be there or gone completely."

Meanwhile, Mr Joseph has echoed the opinions of his predecessor, Mr Green, in urging Westminster to find solutions to the small boats crisis.

Believing Labour’s national policy can become more fruitful than the Tories’ Rwanda scheme, he added: "We'd all like boat crossings stopped completely.

"It's causing many issues with housing, people waiting in hotels for years and years and lots of money being spent.

"We are at the forefront of this problem in Ashford - some of our hotels have been allocated for accommodation.

"So I'd like to see it managed properly which it hasn't been for years and it has created all of this backlog [and] so much money is spent just on that area.

“But the government has got a good plan by setting up the new border control force, tackling criminal gangs and processing applications quickly.”

Another concern circulating the minds of neighbours includes the surge in multiple housing projects.

With many already voicing their fears over the increasing number of properties being built in the likes of Willesborough, Kennington, Hamstreet and the town centre, Mr Joseph says he understands constituents' frustrations.

"We definitely need more houses built across the country," he claimed.

"People have been on the list for a number of years, and so I know from my NHS background so many people are stuck in hospitals because they don't have suitable homes to go to.

"So we are at a crisis point and need more social housing as well.

"It can be a difficult topic though, as everybody agrees we need more houses but nobody wants them built in their backyard.

"We have seen new homes built in Ashford, but the William Harvey is the closest A+E for people in Folkestone too and we are not able to cope with that number of people.

"But my point is we need more houses but we need the infrastructure brought in at the same time.”