More homeless people are being shunted into Dartford by London boroughs than anywhere else in the UK, it has emerged.

The borough is housing many of the capital's homeless because it is cheaper to rent.

In the past four years, 436 temporary accommodation properties in Dartford - and 86 in Gravesham - were rented out by London authorities.

Vulnerable people are being pushed into London suburbs or moved out of the city completely - and more people are being shunted into Dartford than anywhere else.

A crisis in London's housing market is to blame, with a lack of affordable homes, a cap on housing benefits and a rapid rise in rents.

The data, collected by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, sparked concern that the numbers of people moving to other boroughs on a short-term basis will put pressure on their services.

Dartford council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite (Con) agreed the situation was "galling" and that "people expect to see their council tax used to provide services for local people" rather than those only here temporarily.

He said: "Actually, the people coming here from London don't make a huge difference to our services."

In a growing town like Dartford, he said, 400 people over four years was not a huge influx.

He added the people moving in are not adding to the population, but filling the spaces of those who moved out.

Cllr Kite added: "I would like to make it clear that these people are not taking away council properties, they are renting private homes or rooms.

"I would rather these homes were available for Dartford people, but we don't have control over the private market.

"As a council we ensure that 95% of homes under our control go to Dartford people."

London borough authorities have been criticised for moving their problems rather than solving them.

Cllr Kite added: "It's not right. These families deserve to be treated as people with ambitions and hopes of their own and not to be shunted from one borough to another."

A spokesman for the Kent homeless charity Porchlight said: "Dartford and Gravesham councils are having extra pressure put on them when they are already under pressure to house and help people in their own areas.

"London authorities displacing people from their areas into other boroughs isn't going to solve the housing crisis, it's just moving it.

"Another concern is that people who are already vulnerable are being moved away from their families and into areas where they may not be linked in with Gravesend and Dartford's services.

"They may not be getting the help they need to find a job and in that respect this is simply setting people up to fail.

"The demand for our services increases month on month every year. We’re already over subscribed but I can see this issue is going to put extra strain on us as well."