Residents living near a development scheme which has been on hold for nearly two decades will be able to see visible changes to their area by the end of the month, a council leader claims.

Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite (Con) has promised locals that changes are happening at the Lowfield Street development.

Work has finally started on a set of homes that had been in the offing for 17 years.

Developments for houses have begun after they were given the go ahead in August.

Town centre development was originally planned in 2001, but was put on hold for over a decade after it ran into a number of problems.

The regeneration was meant to include 548 modern-style apartments, shops, a café and a micro-brewery which was going to be named after the former Dartford Brewery.

Jeremy Kite has said work started nearly three weeks ago.

"Every time you go there is changes to be seen..." Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite

He said: "Work has begun and the builders are on site.

"I know the Dartford people want to see changes and I can promise them that they are making progress.

"I was down there on Saturday and saw the contractors down there - they're working on it every day.

"Every time you go there is changes to be seen.

"By the end of October there will be more stuff they can see."

Supermarket giant Tesco had previously purchased the land to build a new store on, but after 11 years backed out and sold it to Meyer Homes in 2015.

Meyer Homes closed down a car park near the site as part of the development preparations but has committed to providing new spaces once it is completed.

Leader of Dartford Labour, Jonathon Hawkes, added: “It’s great to see work finally starting and local people will be relieved – but they will also be understandably cautious and hoping the council oversee this project a great deal better than they did with Tesco.

"Dartford has seen too many false dawns before.

"When Tesco finally pulled out, the council promised Dartford they would 'move quickly' to get the site developed.

"Almost four years later, we really shouldn’t still be at the stage of hoardings – we’ve not seen the progress residents were expecting.

"I and thousands of Dartford residents hope we are finally drawing a line under the repeated broken promises and we are moving toward a brighter future for Lowfield Street and for our town.”