A council-owned car park plagued by anti-social behaviour will close after more than 100 incidents in just six months.

The future of Blue Bell Hill car park, in Chatham, near Blue Bell Hill, which has served commuters for 20 years, was discussed by Tonbridge and Malling councillors yesterday.

They have now decided to close the site after a spate of incidents with nuisance vehicles and failing to recover from the dwindling number of users, which was made worse by the pandemic.

Prior to this, it had successfully operated as a commuter car park with 278 spaces, serving a number of private bus services that operated to London.

But the impact of the pandemic has meant that all bus services have now ceased and there is only around 40 regular users, according to the council.

It has now also become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour with more than 100 complaints being made to the police in the last six months.

Following a spate of car meets, the council did instal lockable gates to restrict out of hours access at weekends.

However, quad bikes and motorbikes still gained entry and have caused an ongoing nuisance for nearby residents.

A report to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s cabinet read: "The current operating model for the car park is not an efficient use of our resources and is considered to be unsustainable.

"There is no indication of any return of the commuter bus services which would generate an increase in the number of users to pre-pandemic levels."

The car park, which costs approximately £50,000 a year to run, is expected to close within the next three months. The remaining users will be notified of the specific date.

The local authority bought the land – near the interchange of the M2 motorway and the A229 Medway to Maidstone Road – from Kent County Council (KCC) in 2003 for £100,000.

Two restrictive covenants were placed on the site when it was sold. The first was that the land must be used as a car park for 20 years – a restriction which expires in December.

The second was that following the expiry, if planning permission were granted for a different use, then 80% of the enhanced value of the land should be repaid to KCC.

Any future use of the site will be subject to an agreement with KCC.