Up to 90 jobs are at risk after infrastructure group Balfour Beatty announced the proposed closure of its construction plant in Dartford.

It blamed “insufficient construction activity and a disproportionately high cost base” at the complex in Hawley Road.

The company said it had reviewed the viability of its 21 regional delivery units and three - one in Dartford and two smaller operations in Rochdale and Doncaster - had been identified for possible closure.

It said that between 50 and 90 people were employed at each plant, although it hoped to redeploy people to different locations within the Balfour Beattty group.

It said the three locations collectively accounted for around 8% of the UK regional business which generated £1.5 billion of revenue in 2012.

In a statement, the company said: “At our location in Dartford we have advised employees of our proposal to close this location due to a combination of insufficient construction activity and a disproportionately high cost base.

"This could result in a small number of job losses and the relocation of individuals.”

Balfour Beatty said it was too early to confirm how many redundancies might be involved should it go ahead with the proposal.

During the process, it would “explore all available options for the redeployment of employees across the regional business and the wider Balfour Beatty Group.”

The Hawley Road plant was part of the Birse construction group which was bought by Balfour Beatty in 2006. It is now known as Birse Civils Balfour Beatty.

Balfour Beatty is an international infrastructure company employing 50,000 people around the world.

It warned in April that it expected full-year profits at its UK arm to fall £50 million below forecast.