Liberal Democrat nominee Fran Smith has won the Fant ward by-election.

Cllr Smith won 702 votes in the by-election on Thursday night, beating Conservative candidate Paul Butcher (393), Green candidate Stuart Jeffery (317) and Labour candidate Bruce Heald (102).

Maidstone council said there was a 23.6 per cent turn-out for the by-election.

Cllr Smith, 59, was born and bred in the ward and became involved in politics after starting a petition for better buses for the area in 2006.

The Kent Messenger caught up with Cllr Smith the morning after the result, as she was on her way to retire from her job with The Federation of Small Businesses.

She said: "The turn-out wasn't terribly impressive but I was immensely pleased with my majority. We thought it was a close-run thing right up until the end.

"I'm 60 this year, so I'm retiring to give it my best shot as a full-time councillor."

She said she planned to celebrate her retirement and victory later that day, adding: "It might get a bit boozy."

Cllr Smith has previously campaigned on traffic-calming measures and took a petition to the council seeking to regulate development along the Medway Valley.

She said development in the valley remained a concern, and she would continue to monitor the issue "every step of the way."