A KENT County Council chief has defended the authority's spending on a show in America.

KCC has sent nine staff to Washington DC to run the county’s participation in the prestigious annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the first time an English region has taken part.

Some 40 representatives of Kent firms are exhibiting at the festival in a joint promotion with the state of Virginia. More than a million visitors are expected over the next two weeks.

Cllr Alex King, deputy KCC leader, spearheaded a campaign to have Kent represented at the festival. It is the highlight of three years of working with Virginia.

He said the three-year partnership had cost around £500,000 and the council had invested £250,000 in the festival.

Travel costs for staff would be a further cost but he did not know the precise figure.

All the expenditure had come from the Kings Hill Regeneration Fund, he said.

"The economic benefit will far outweigh what has been spent on this. The reality is, you have to speculate. This is a small risk in order to get a lot of economic benefit and it is the people of Kent – in tourism, in business – who will benefit.

"If we fail to raise Kent’s profile as a place to invest we will not have done our duty by the people of Kent."

Meanwhile, Kent’s show almost came unstuck when a container full of Kentish things, including five rocking horses made by the Stevenson brothers of Bethersden, , near Ashford, was held up at the docks.

Only a last minute intervention by the Governor of Virginia’s chief of staff secured the container’s release.

Meanwhile, the British Ambassador to Washington has praised Kent’s partnership with Virginia.

Sir David Manning said it had thrown a spotlight on the historic links between the two regions.

It was a modern relationship that was growing economically, especially tourism.

He added: "I congratulate Kent and Virginia on what they have achieved so far and I very much look forward to seeing that relationship flourish."