Nearly 200 police officers could be recruited before the end of the year as part of an ambitious plan to make the force in Kent one of the best in England.

Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has revealed an additional 189 bobbies could be hired by January 2020, bringing the force to around 96% of its officer capacity.

If it happens, it would mean an extra 450 officers would have been recruited in the three years since he took over.

Additional officers could also be brought in as a result of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's pledge to put another 20,000 police staff on UK streets.

Mr Scott, who visited the Prime Minister at Downing Street last month, said: "Kent stands best placed among all police forces to deliver so let's have our fair share."

His comments came amid a grilling by elected members from Kent's 12 district councils and county council about the potential increased workforce during a public meeting in Maidstone County Hall.

The Kent and Medway Police and Crime panel was told 182 officers had been recruited by the county force between April and August this year, including 70 female and six were black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME).

A total of 628 'live' applications were being considered at different stages of Kent Police's recruitment process on August 13 and 48 applications, on average, were received each week by the local force between January and August.

However, concerns were raised by some councillors about the accelerated push for more recruits.

Canterbury city councillor Ashley Clark (Con), a former police officer, warned about the need to retain Kent's best officers, hire additional trainers and maintain diversity in recruitment.

He said he wanted recruits to be vetted to a high standard to make sure there were "no rotten apples in our barrel."

Mr Scott said Kent Police continued to carry out thorough checks and said people of different experiences, backgrounds and abilities would be given the chance to work with them.

Maidstone council's deputy leader, Fay Gooch (Ind), made an impassioned plea for more positive publicity about the state of the force's police recruitment.

"I'm tired of the national media saying police cuts is the reason for all this crime but the trouble is I get tired of saying in front of my TV screen 'not Kent'.

"Kent is fine and we are doing alright."

Kent county councillor Lesley Game (Con) suggested another way to increase police numbers could be through existing local cadet organisations, saying: "It is a good opportunity to train young people and make them good police officers."

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