A ROW is brewing after planning inspectors told Kent it should be prepared to accept several thousand more houses being built in the county over the next 10 years.

A report by government inspectors into the Kent and Medway Strategic Plan, a blueprint for development drawn up by Medway Council and Kent County Council, has recommended the number of homes to be built in Kent should increase by 4,400 to 94,000.

The strategic plan will eventually be replaced by the controversial South East Plan, which will cover the entire region and sets out higher house-building targets.

Conservative County Hall leaders believe the recommendations made by inspectors could lead to "housing creep" and undermine its efforts to constrain house building in parts of the county.

Inspectors say more homes should be built in Tonbridge and Malling, Swale, Thanet and Dover.

The greatest impact would be in Tonbridge, where inspectors have recommended an increase of 36 per cent to 8,700 homes up to 2016. They say the area, one of the costliest in Kent, will need more affordable homes as the economy grows.

In Swale, inspectors say housing provision should increase by 2,200 to 7,500 - an increase of 29 per cent on Kent’s recommended target.

In Dover, inspectors describe KCC’s target as pessimistic and recommend it should be increased by 900 to 4,500.

However, the inspectors’ report accepted there should be no increase in housing provision in any other Kent district, including the growth areas of Ashford and north Kent.

County councillors say they want more time to consider the recommendations before deciding whether to accept them.