A borough councillor locked horns with demolition workers as they were preparing to pull down a historic bridge in Borough Green.

Staff from Kent Demolition threatened to call the police during the altercation yesterday, after cllr Mike Taylor was spotted taking photographs of the structure, in Thong Lane.

The road there has been closed and safety barriers erected until Tuesday, September 18, while the bridge is broken up by a 21 tonne machine.

It is being removed by developers Crest Nicholson Eastern, who are developing the nearby Isles Quarry West site off Haul Road. The firm has planning permission to build 171 homes there.

But the bridge is an important reminder of the area’s quarrying history, and cllr Taylor says he was simply documenting it before it was torn down - something he says he had permission to do.

Kent Demolition, the firm carrying out the works, denies this and claimed the independent Borough Green and Long Mill representative had breached the safety barriers to get there.

A spokesman for the company said: “He was causing a bit of a scene so we asked him to leave because it was extremely dangerous to have a pedestrian there.

“We put everything in place to stop people from wandering onto the site. He was there to take pictures which was fine but only on the right side of the safety barrier.

“Five minutes later we saw him on the bank, the wrong side of the barriers again. We asked him to leave but he was arguing with the guys so we threatened to call the police.

"He told us it was our heritage that we were destroying but that is our job. We had to stop work and spend time making the area safe after he left which delayed the work for a while.”

But cllr Taylor said the treatment he received was heavy handed. He said: “I was wearing high visibility clothing and it wasn’t like I was under the bit that was being demolished. It is just that the developers don’t like being challenged.

“We would have liked to have saved the bridge as a parish council but because it is old no one would insure it. This is the last little bit of our heritage and now it is gone. I was just there to record it.”

It is thought it will take two days to completely remove the structure.