A PR firm has been forced to apologise after it emerged it had not delivered leaflets advising of a public consultation it was in charge of promoting.

Fabrick was hired to run the event, canvassing neighbours on Maidstone council's Heathlands garden village scheme, which will see 5,000 homes built at Lenham Heath.

The firm said it had prepared more than 6,500 leaflets to be delivered to houses in Lenham, Lenham Heath, Harrietsham, Sandway, Hollingbourne, Leeds and Charing ahead of the first day of consultation on Sunday, but now admits "not all of the leaflets were delivered and we apologise for this error."

The company, Fabrik, said it would be looking into the issue with the independent distribution company that was supposed to deliver the leaflets to find out what went wrong.

Meanwhile, Maidstone Borough Council and its partners Homes England said: "As a consequence, we realise that additional community engagement events in Lenham will be required and we will be holding these in May."

The non-arrival of the leaflets could account for the poor turnout at Sunday's consultation event when fewer than 40 people turned up all day.

Fabrick's admission came after an intervention by Helen Whately, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, who wrote to the head of planning at Homes England to complain about the consultation process.

Mrs Whately said: "Some residents in Lenham Heath and surrounding places have not been told about the consultation, with letters yet to be received even though the consultation is under way."

She said: "This is extremely concerning as it may deny people the chance to be involved in extremely far-reaching decisions.

"Secondly, there is a great deal of concern about where the hearings for the consultation are taking place.

"The Great Danes Hotel is a good seven miles from Lenham Heath. This makes it hard to get to for people without a car. "

Save Our Heathlands, the residents group opposed to the garden village, sent Maidstone council a list of 22 roads in Lenham, seven in Lenham Heath, and four in Charing Heath that had not received a leaflet, and said that no homes in Platts Heath had received one.

There had already been controversy over the requirement for those attending the events to book a slot within a dedicated 10-minute arrival time. Homes England said the aim was to avoid the room becoming too crowded, with Covid in mind, even though the government has now lifted all Covid restrictions.

Fabrick was further criticised when it advised Lenham residents they could use the 10x bus service to reach Sunday's consultation event at Hollingbourne events. The service only runs every two hours on Sundays.

Sunday and Monday's consultation events were held at the Great Danes Hotel at Hollingbourne, but the final event, scheduled for tomorrow is at the Lenham Community Centre in Groom Way, between 2.30pm and 8pm.

To book a place click here. https://bit.ly/heathlands-wednesday