Businesses will start counting the benefits of the long hot bank holiday weekend as thousands of extra visitors pumped thousands of extra pounds into the county's economy.

The rare sunshine-heavy weekend saw roads to our beaches packed and tourist attractions enjoy a bumper turn-out.

While the full impact of the warm temperatures will not be fully known for several more weeks, the county's tourism champions Visit Kent said it will have helped the bottom line of all those businesses benefitting from a healthy visitor economy.

Spokeswoman Sinead Hanna explained: "Kent couldn’t have asked for better weather for the first May Bank Holiday break - our attractions and destinations are likely to have welcomed thousands of extra visitors over the three-day weekend thanks to the heatwave.

"Our businesses always see a spike in trade and visits when the weather is good, as the sunshine tempts more locals to get out and about in their county, and Londoners looking to escape the city in the heat naturally head for Kent’s coast.

“With beautiful beaches, trendy seaside towns such as Whitstable, Margate and Folkestone, lush countryside dotted with National Trust and English Heritage sites and acres of flourishing orchards and vines - with tasting rooms attached - Kent remains a magnet for domestic and inbound visitors to the UK.”