Maidstone councillors outraged at Kent County Council's (KCC's) plans to close two children's centres in the borough are pleading for a rethink.

The county council wants to shut both the Eastborough Children's Centre in Vinters Road, Maidstone, and the Marden Children's Centre in Goudhurst Road, Marden.

In a public consultation, it has suggested parents and children could make use of alternative provisions at Shepway in Maidstone or at Cranbrook.

But Conservative councillors on the borough council were quick to condemn the move from their Tory colleagues just a mile away at County Hall.

Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid (Con) said the measure was "being driven by property not people" and called for the council to make the most robust response to KCC in the consultation.

She said the impact for the people of Maidstone had not been properly assessed.

Cllr Lewis McKenna (Con) said the council needed to speak up for its younger constituents who had not yet got a voice.

Cllr Louise Brice (Con) said: "Cranbrook is 7.4 miles from Marden, that is not a practical alternative."

She said that with Marden's population nearly doubling in recent years, the need for a local children's centre was greater than ever.

KCC is considering shutting 35 children's centres across the county - a move it says could save £6m a year.

It said there was a £165m backlog of maintenance work to be done on the buildings that it could no longer afford. The closures would help it reach its zero carbon emissions objective.

That was disputed by Cllr Stewart Jeffery (Green), who said the move might reduce KCC's emissions, but would increase them over all. There would be extra emissions from families making longer journeys to access those facilities that remained, he said, plus the inefficient buildings would still be occupied by new tenants, so there would still be carbon emissions.

Cllr Simon Webb (Con), who as council officer for KCC many years ago had helped to establish the centres, said there were "significant gaps" in the county's consultation paper, which he described as being "barely worth the paper it is written on."

Important imformation on primary school numbers was missing, that on senior schools was three years out of date. Cllr Webb said: "This consultation is bordering on inept."

Cllr Maureen Cleator (Lab) said: "These centres are more than just children's centres, they are centres for the community."

She warned that if they closed there would be vulnerable people who would no longer engage with the services. She criticised the proposal as being divorced from people and simply a "desktop exercise."

Cllr Alan Bartlett (Con) agreed, saying: "It is ludicrous."

Cllr Gillian Fort (Con) pointed to population estimates that showed Maidstone's population growing by 30,000 over the next 18 years.

She said: "We should be building more children's centres, not closing them."

A secondary aspect of KCC's proposal is to move the Adult Education Service from St Faith's Street in the town centre to Oakwood Park. That was also criticised by councillors who said the more remote location would make it more difficult for clients to access.

The public can make their own views to KCC's consultation here.

The deadline for responses is March 26.