ASHFORD is poised to become a cauldron of world-class scientific research under dramatic £1billion plans to create 12,500 jobs and transform the village of Wye over the next 25 years.

The area is to be at the heart of a crop-based revolution that secures the future of Imperial College’s campus at Wye, which has been threatened with closure.

Ashford council leader Cllr Paul Clokie called it a milestone "as great as the railway first coming to Ashford".

The plans promise thousands of high-quality jobs, including 5,000 at 'Wye Park'.

The Wye Concordat, signed at Wye College this week by leaders of Ashford Council Kent County Council and Imperial College, pledges "world-class facilities" and a "consultative approach" to local interest groups.

But there are also provisions for "housing of an appropriate range to cater for a broad spectrum of householders".

It is likely that the college will sell some of its 940 acres for housing development to partly fund the research and science park.

The plans are at a very early stage and can only go ahead with huge financial support from the Government, Europe and the private sector. But leaders are convinced that the project is so vital to the UK’s future that it will win the necessary funding.

After signing the Concordat, Sir Richard Sykes, rector of Imperial College, said that the UK lagged way behind in its spending on research and development.

"The only way businesses can compete is by using the knowledge base," he said. "If you’re going to compete with the Chinese and Indians, you’ve got to use your brain."

Wye Park would reverse the county’s brain drain. Sir Richard said that if it was not possible to go forward with the plan, there was no future for the college at Wye. He urged the Government to back it with financial support.

A public meeting about the plans is to be held in Wye next month.