KENT has been warned that it faces "a serious disaster" if thousands of houses are built without the jobs to go with them.

Sir Graeme Odgers, chairman of Locate in Kent, the agency that promotes Kent and Medway as great places to do business, gave his stark warning at the launch of its annual report.

Speaking in The Orangery, Turkey Mill, Maidstone, he told more than 100 business chiefs: "If we have housing built but no jobs to go with the housing, it really could be a serious disaster from our point of view. We want sustainable communities which means jobs as well as houses."

Sir Graeme and other senior people, including Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, the leader of Kent County Council, fear that without local jobs the proposed house-building explosion in North Kent and Ashford could lead to a commuting and traffic nightmare.

Locate in Kent will play a key role in encouraging more firms to set up in the county, especially in Ashford and at a planned commercial centre close to Ebbsfleet International Station.

Along with the full Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the station is due to open in 2007 and planners hope that this will fuel a surge of inward investment and job creation.

Cllr Bruce-Lockhart paid tribute to LiK's achievements, saying it was an outstanding agecncy. "Kent derives enormous benefit from its work." Kent was "one of the best business locations in the UK," he said.

Kent County Council pumps around £700,000 into the agency, and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has agreed to inject £250,000 a year in a five-year deal.