A care home and extra hospital beds facilities have finally been approved subject to conditions, three years after plans were first submitted.

Located opposite Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, the three-storey building will include a 70-bed care home for dementia patients and a hospital ward with 20 hospital beds.

Also part of the plans at Blackshole Farm in Watling Street is a four-storey car park with 329 spaces, of which 175 would be allocated to hospital staff for £1 a day.

It is hoped the car park will alleviate parking congestion at the hospital and on-street parking at the nearby Fleet Estate.

Real estate company, The Bostall Group, originally submitted plans for a care home at the site in 2018 and included a 90 bed care home.

However after discussions with the hospital trust it was decided 20 beds should go to hospital patients to relieve pressure on Darent Valley Hospital.

Planning officers at Dartford council recommended the care home for approval.

A drive-thru coffee shop part of the original scheme has been scrapped due to concerns it could lead to increased traffic on Watling Road where the hospital is located.

Despite being located in a protected green belt area, the land is already occupied by a small derelict farm building, and planning officers have said the urgent need for medical care in Dartford was more important.

Council members were also concerned by the NHS committing to the project and noted the application was subject to the completion of a legal agreement relating to that.

They were also informed it was was subject to approval by the Secretary of State for the Environment before a formal approval was issued.

The outline plans were approved at Dartford council's planning committee meeting on December 16 subject to multiple conditions including the completion of a satisfactory agreement between the hospital trust bosses and the developer.

A detailed construction plan will now have to be submitted to the council before work can commence.