The frightening prospect in store for fields and meadows across the borough of Maidstone has been revealed following the borough council’s "call for sites."

The council invited landowners and developers to suggest plots for development and when the deadline was reached 160 housing sites had been submitted - the vast majority - "80 to 90%" - on greenfield land.

The council’s principal planning officer Michael Murphy said: "It is disappointing there are so few brownfield sites come forward, but that probably reflects the success we have had in regenerating brownfield sites in recent years."

The potential building sites are ranged across the borough: with five suggested for Barming, four for Coxheath, and nine in Detling.

Staplehurst clocks up 14 sites, Marden 11 and Thurnham four. Nearly every parish and ward has at least one.

Council leader Chris Garland (Con) was keen to re-assure people that just because a site appeared on the potential development map did not mean it would be developed.

He said: "This is not our list of sites, rather those put forward by developers and landowners for consideration.

"We shall now look carefully at each of them, applying an agreed set of criteria to assess which should go forward."

Mr Murphy said that factors such as transport, access, sewerage, flooding potential, heritage and archeological history, tree preservation orders and other council policies would all play their part in scoring the sites.

Ward councillors and parish councils would also be consulted before a draft list of sites was approved by the cabinet in September, ahead of a six-week public consultation period in October.

Because a large number of homes have already been built or granted planning permission since 2011, the actual number of brand new sites needed would be fewer.