Kent has more than 100,000 companies located in the county for the first time.

The number has grown by a quarter over the last five years, based on statistics from Companies House and the Office of National Statistics.

Medway has the largest number of companies at 12,351, followed by Sevenoaks with 10,446 and Maidstone with 9,961.

Swale and Dover had the fewest companies, at 5,214 and 4,133 respectively.

Last year was a record year for new businesses in the county, when 14,577 were registered compared to 14,246 in 2015.

Medway formed the most new businesses at 2,085, followed by Maidstone with 1,381 and Thanet with 1,196.

John Korchak, director of operations at Inform Direct, which conducted the research, said: “Kent had an impressive year in 2016 which has continued into 2017, passing the 100,000 milestone for the first time in its history and demonstrating that it offers a fertile environment for new businesses to spring up and prosper.”