A five-storey, 92-room hotel and 83 homes are to be built in Stone.

The one-hectare site, on land between St Mary’s Road and Crossways Boulevard, will have the hotel, with its own restaurant, and apartments built across seven and six-storey blocks.

The plans are for 88 parking spaces for the larger block, 66 of them below ground. The smaller block would have 45 spaces and the hotel would have 125, with 76 underground.

The land is technically greenbelt, as it was once used for allotments and is previously undeveloped, but a council report showed the area was of a low ecological value.

Stone Parish Council had no objection to the plans and only two letters of complaint were lodged by residents whose concerns included loss of wildlife and trees, the impact on residential amenities and that the apartment blocks were too high.

There was also a letter from neighbouring business Toolbank which feared traffic problems on roads that were already overloaded at peak time.

The site is close to the Crossways business park which has a wide range of warehouses and offices as well as another hotel, the Hilton Dartford Bridge.

There is no affordable housing offered in the plans but council officers have asked for a 30% allocation in the conditions.

The application by Melbond Ltd was given the go ahead by Dartford councillors at a meeting last week.