Staff are upset after Kent County Council (KCC) suddenly announced it was shutting a huge office block as part of a cost-saving exercise.

People who work for the authority's highways department at a purpose-built site on the Henwood Industrial Estate in Ashford were told this week it would close next month.

The announcement was made at 11am on Monday morning during a video meeting on Teams.

KCC says the decision comes amid "enormous pressure on council budgets" but insists no jobs will be lost in the move.

A staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, told KentOnline the news came as a huge shock.

They say "not one single person was in agreement" and colleagues were asking why there had been no consultation.

Staff are also concerned that they are now going to have to fork out more on heating their own homes during working hours.

The employee said: "They're saying we can work at Aylesford, but there is not enough parking there and it's going to cost people a lot of money who live in Ashford to travel to and from.

"They also talked about the possibility of using Kroner House in Ashford [on Eurogate Business Park off Trinity Road], but parking is also restricted there and I understand there is not a lot of room.

"In the winter, more and more people were going back into the office because of the cost of heating their homes.

"They are saying it will only be six months, but they also said the hybrid working system would be temporary and now we know it will always remain this way.

"They've just spent God knows how much refurbishing it. They've put in new LED lights and a new heating system and now it will sit empty."

“The enormous pressure on council budgets is being felt by every local authority across the UK..."

At pre-pandemic levels, it is believed about 100 employees used the office.

A KCC spokesperson said: “At an internal briefing, staff who use the KCC Henwood building in Ashford were informed that the offices will be temporarily closed from the end of January for the remainder of the financial year.

“The Kent Highways depot at Henwood will remain open, and the decision to temporarily close the offices will not in any way impact the positions of any members of staff or any highways operations.

“The enormous pressure on council budgets is being felt by every local authority across the UK.

"It is therefore necessary to look in every way we possibly can at how we can deliver our services as efficiently, effectively and sustainably as possible.

“With prices continuing to rise, the decision to temporarily close the Henwood offices has been taken in order to achieve substantial savings against KCC’s utilities bill.

“In line with the authority’s hybrid working policy, any staff who currently use the Henwood office space can use hot desks at Kroner House in Ashford, the Kent Highways Aylesford site or at any other hybrid working office across the KCC estate.”