KENT Gateway Chamber of Commerce is on course to become one of the best in Britain after winning a significant accolade.

Anthony Goldstone, president of the British Chambers of Commerce, paid tribute to the chamber before presenting BCC seals of approval to chamber chiefs from Ashford, Maidstone, Shepway and West Kent at a breakfast ceremony in Leeds Castle.

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith had been expected at the event as part of his tour of Kent and Medway but he did not show up. It was left to Michael Howard, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, to represent the Conservatives.

Kent Gateway is a group of chambers from the four areas along the M20 corridor. It was created last year to give business a bigger voice in local and national affairs and to offer its 1,500 members more services.

BCC accreditation puts it among an elite group of around 60 chambers nationwide. Chris Capron, the chamber's chief executive, said BCC bosses had warned Kent Gateway it would take a lot of hard work and they doubted the chamber could pull it off.

"But we thought we could do it and we did," Mr Capron said. "It took us a year and we had 10 hours of auditing to become accredited but we've achieved it."

It was important to put the business view about what was good for the M20 Corridor, he said.

Mr Goldstone, from Manchester, congratulated the chamber on its achievement. He said: "I am a passionate believer in the importance of the chamber of commerce. We offer the opportunity for businesses to come together, to meet, to understand what our problems are and to be able to talk to the government of the day both nationally and locally."

He urged the chamber to promote the tourist industry. "You're not just here for manufacturing and general service industries, you're here for tourism as well and it's good that you are meeting here in Leeds Castle," he said.

He attacked the government for excessive regulation and failing to fully understand business needs.

"They want a relationship with business but at times they don't quite know how to do it and they play with it," said Mr Goldstone. "It's up to the chamber of commerce to say it wanted a partnership but that partnership has to be real and meaningful."

"Unless we can get the government of the day and the civil servants to understand, we will continue to get regulation and legislation which is not deliberately anti-business but is not understanding of business concerns and needs."

Mr Howard welcomed the accolade, saying it was important for business to have a strong voice. He accused the Government of introducing too many regulations, claiming they were up 60 per cent on 1997 when the Tories left office.

He admitted that the Tories had not yet got a business agenda. "But I hope we will before the next election," he said.

Mark Howard, president of West Kent Chamber, hoped the accolade would convince more firms - only about 10 per cent belong - that it was worth joining their local chamber.