A major coffee chain is tipped to make its first brew in Kent as it looks to takeover a former Pizza Hut restaurant.

The vacated site at Imperial Retail Park in Gravesend has been earmarked for one of Canadian-based Tim Hortons' new 24 hour drive-thru and dine in locations.

It comes after Pizza Hut, who had been trading from the estate since 2005, closed up shop earlier this year amid the impact of Covid-19.

The unit in Thames Way was one of 29 chains across the country to cease trading permanently as bosses declared sales were not expected "to fully bounce back until well into 2021”.

Plans have now been submitted to Gravesham council to open a new Tim Hortons coffee shop with a drive thru at the premises.

Its application reads: "Tim Hortons is a relatively new entrant to the UK market and can best be described as a restaurant chain with a coffee and bakehouse offer.

"Known affectionately as ‘Timmy’s’, it is a place famous for its fresh coffee and baked goods and is visited by more than 5.3m Canadians daily."

If approved, the proposals would see a number of aesthetic alterations to the existing building and courtyard area.

Changes would also be made to the existing car park to facilitate the installation of a new drive-thru facility.

The application also proposes to extend the current licence hours from 11am to 11.30pm to 24 hours, seven days a week.

Other potential locations for the coffee joint were scouted across Gravesend including various vacant town centre units and the former Poundland in the Thamesgate Shopping Centre.

However, none were deemed suitable for its business plan due to the absence of space to instal a new drive-thru, it was claimed.

According to the company's planning statement, it is envisaged Tim Hortons would operate in the same way as the former Pizza Hut with food and drink offered mainly for consumption on site.

And there while there would be a slight shift in the balance of takeaway sales, dine-ins would continue to make up the majority of activity on site.

It added: "The proposal would simply help facilitate Tim Hortons takeaway offer in a more customer friendly, convenient and safe manner, both as part of their business model and, coincidentally, responding to the need to adapt within the evolving retail sector to ensure flexibility and the expansion of consumer choice."

Tim Hortons opened its first store in the UK in 2017 and now has 26 units with this being its first foray into Kent.

As well as coffee and doughnuts, the shop also serves a range of snacks and beverages such as toasted bagels and wraps.

Read more: All the latest news from Gravesend