A motor enthusiast and YouTuber has been given special access to the former Rootes car showroom - once the biggest car dealer in the country.

The grade II listed, modernist building, operated as a showroom and workshop from 1938 right up until last year when then owners Roberts and Day moved to a purpose-built showroom in Park Wood, as Len House became "no longer fit for purpose".

Matt Richardson's full urban exploration

Planning permission has now been submitted by owner, Classicus Estates, to covert one of Maidstone's most recognisable buildings into 159 apartments. But for now the striking, water-side structure is unoccupied.

Having grown up in the County Town and passed by Rootes hundreds of times, professional photographer Matt Richardson was itching to explore the maze of workshops and storerooms before Rootes begins a new life as flats.

With the permission of Classicus, the 45-year-old set off on his urban exploration, camera in hand.

Upon first entering Len House, Mr Richardson finds himself in the Roberts and Day offices, used up until the company left last year. A few posters and papers are strewn across the carpet and Mr Richardson describes it as "weirdly haunting walking through this place when it's completely deserted, knowing how busy it was for so many years."

After winding through several office rooms, he reaches a vast, desolate "cathederal of a room", with huge, original steel-framed windows along the length of one wall and light pouring in.

This space was a workshop from 1939 - and would have been filled with cars being fixed, serviced and MOTd.

Mr Richardson says during the Second World War, every Commer truck which went out to Europe came down the workshop's ramp at some point. "That's quite an incredible thought", he adds.

The enormous space is largely empty, with only a few two post ramps and other old equipment remaining and Mr Richardson's voice echoes eerily as he talks his viewers through the history of Rootes.

Hundreds of old service manuals and trade catalogues from as far back at the 1960s have been stashed in dusty cardboard boxes - discovered by Mr Richardson during his tour. He has notified the Rootes Archive and hopes they can be saved.

Making his way up the ramp to the body shop, the smell of paint still hangs in the air, says Mr Richardson.

Body parts, windscreens, connectors and bulbs have all been left behind by the previous owners.

The room also has a glass, zigzag roof - said to be a common feature of British industrial buildings of the 30s and 40s.

Making his way down the stairs, past a few bird droppings and a dead pigeon, Mr Richardson finds an "elegant, twisted wooden metal" staircase.

All the staircases, erected in classic 1930s style, are listed and so will be protected during the development.

In an office, Mr Richardson finds a scrapbook of 1970s adverts in newspapers, including one in the Kentish Gazette, and a bulky photo album of vintage snaps.

Probably the only spooky room in the building is the old snooker club, opened in the late 1980s.

The green felt-topped tables still stand within, topped with hundreds of coloured balls and polished wooden cues. Mr Richardson says professional player Jimmy White played here at one point.

As he walks between the tables, Mr Richardson says he can still smell "the beer in the carpet and the fags in the air".

Mr Richardson, who lives in Aylesford with his partner and son, began shooting and editing car-related videos 18 months ago, and now has almost 24,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, furiousdriving.

Usually working as a freelance photographer, he loves shooting items on classic cars, tests drives and 'in the garage' pieces in his spare time.

Rootes was built in 1938 by Howard and Scouster, and the site, next to the River Len, has formerly been occupied by a tannery.

With a filling station out the front, the new complex was considered the largest and most up-to-date showroom in Kent.

Although it's arguably always sad when a building's core purpose fades into history, the new plan for what Rootes in Mill Street may now become is quite exciting, Mr Richardson feels.

The tower above the main entrance used to be covered in 700ft neon lighting which spelt out 'Rootes', and the new developer wants to bring this back, which will be quite the spectacle.

Mr Richardson said: "I was worried it was going to be pulled down because of how much money it would cost to renovate, but it's going to be really sympathetically put back together."

If plans are approved, Classicus hopes to retain the large windows and high interior spaces of the existing building, with a commercial use, such as a restaurant, on the ground floor and a car park up a ramp inside the building.

But it also wants to add a two-storey extension on the roof of the building - taking it to five storeys in all, and to erect three new buildings to the rear of Len House in Palace Avenue.

The plans include the re-exposure of that part of the River Len that currently runs in a culvert under the car park.

In addition, the smaller car park to the front of Len House, facing Mill Street, would be converted to a garden square.

Historically, this forecourt housed a petrol pumping station, and a kiosk would be created to replicate that, which might be used as a coffee stand or food bar.

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