A lorry park is turning away 500 vehicles each week and has hired five staff to deal with demand.

Ashford International Truckstop has not dropped below 99% overnight capacity since the turn of the year.

This month, it went through a week where it had no overnight spaces remaining on any weeknight.

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It comes as its owner awaits the outcome of a planning application to double its capacity to 600 spaces.

Its expansion plans form part of wider development proposals for the Waterbrook site close to junction 10 of the M20.

Truckstop manager Darren Smith said: “We are turning away hundreds of HGVs over the course of a week, which will continue to cause issues with illegal and inconsiderate parking locally.

“Despite the enforcement action being taken against illegally parked HGVs in Ashford, the driver grapevine will always be alive with alternative locations and we know that they are moving out to more rural spots to park up.”

“The need for the extra spaces here and elsewhere in the county is self-evident.

“If we were able to open an additional 300 tomorrow, we would have little trouble filling them given current levels of demand.”

The outline planning application has been submitted to Ashford Borough Council’s planning officers, who are expected to produce a report by Tuesday, April 17.