County road chiefs have warned plans for a major rail freight depot near Maidstone would worsen congestion around an already busy area.

The warning came as Kent County Council formally confirmed its opposition to the Kent International Gateway scheme for a depot on 270 acres of countryside near Bearsted and agreed to be represented at the public inquiry.

At a meeting of KCC’s Conservative cabinet, Geoff Mee, KCC’s director of transport strategy, said the depot scheme envisaged employing up to 4,000 people.

“There’s a real risk that we are going to be inundated at Junction 8 of the M20 with more traffic. The number of people likely to be employed is between 3,500 and 4,000. You imagine trying to get that number of a site that does not have good transport connections. I am very concerned about the volume of traffic that will be generated,” he said.

Cllr Kevin Lynes, KCC cabinet member for regeneration, said KCC would do all it could to block the depot.

“Kent’s countryside is non-negotiable. This [application] is precisely what this is about. If we are here to do anything, it is to protect and preserve the beauty of the county that we live in and not to allow something as nonsensical as this.”

A report setting out the grounds of KCC’s objections said the proposal breached a range of planning polices in the South East Plan.

Mr Mee said the fight to block the depot plan would be protracted. “We will not be getting any [decision] from the Planning Inspectorate until the end of the year.”