More Kent jobs will be created by two holiday parks in the county who have been given the green light to expand by local councils.

The go-ahead for Seaview Holiday Park in Whitstable and Harts Holiday Park on the Isle of Sheppey follows a record summer of trading by their owners Park Holidays UK.

Canterbury City Council approved proposals to build 71 more caravan holiday homes at Seaview Holiday Park as well as an extension of the park's boatyard.

There will also be improvements made to the "green gap" on the perimeter of Seaview, a conservation buffer-zone with habitats for a birds, animals and plants.

At Harts Holiday Park, Swale Borough Council gave planning consent for more than 100 old holiday chalets to be modernised, some more than half a century old.

Combined, the two parks will have just short of 1,000 holiday homes available to hire or buy, as well as pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes and tents.

The company plans to begin the multi-million investment this autumn.

Director of Park Holidays UK Tony Clish said: "According to tourist board figures, these two parks alone support more than 500 Kent jobs both directly and indirectly, covering a whole range of skilled and semi-skilled occupations.

"Also, the millions of pounds spent annually by our visitors in Kent is crucial to the survival of many tourism-dependent businesses such as shops, pubs, restaurants and attractions.

"We're delighted to be making this investment in these two great parks, and to be benchmarking new standards for the rest of the industry.

"This year got off to a fantastic early start, and both parks were really buzzing throughout summer.

"Even now in autumn, bookings are way ahead of last year."

Park Holidays is also hoping to gain planning consent from Shepway District Council for improvements to its New Beach Holiday Park in Dymchurch.