One of the county's most successful businesses is to relocate to a new site five miles away with the prospect of hundreds more jobs.

Medway's second largest employer Veetee Rice is moving from its three factories on Medway City Estate in Strood to a single £100 million plant at Kingsnorth on the Hoo Peninsula.

The move to a purpose-built plant on a 40-acre site will mean boss Moni Varma can meet growing demand for his products worldwide and hopefully double his workforce to 600 over the next five to six years.

The businessman has been actively looking to expand his global operations for several years.

And in that time he has been approached with several offers to lure his business elsewhere in the UK.

But Mr Varma said: "I owe it as a debt of gratitude to Medway to stay here.

"It is here where I reaped my early fruits and it is here that people should reap the benefits.

"I have had offers from all over, from Wales and Northern Ireland, which would have cost me a lot less money.

"But why should I disrupt the lives of families who have worked for me and been loyal for 30 to 40 years?

"I realised we needed to consolidate to a single site."

Mr Varma said year-long negotiations with Medway Council were at an advanced stage and he had received support from MP Kelly Tolhurst.

He said: "We are completely full here. We can't move another inch. I need to have moved yesterday.

"I am working with the council, but it's frustrating. The processes are painfully slow but this is a win-win situation."

Among other businesses, Kingsnorth has an Amazon depot which supplies items to the firm's main Dartford distribution centre.

The award-winning entrepreneur, who has appeared in The Times' richest people list, made a significant breakthrough by launching a range of microwave-cooked rice products.

The brand lines were snapped up by virtually every supermarket chain in the UK and are a big hit in America.

Having run a successful steel business in Malawi, Moni moved to the UK in 1982.

In 1985, he spotted a gap in the market and seized the opportunity to set up a rice milling and packing business.

Using an initial investment of £200,000 he established a mill in west London, rapidly making a name for Veetee in the supply of high-quality basmati rice.

In 2005, a new £20 million factory was built near to the existing rice mill in Medway.

The trade magazine The Grocer announced recently that out of 14 rice companies in the UK, Veetee Rice was the only growing brand.