A businessman believes he will be forced to wind up his student exchange company after 50 years if a proposal to move a coach park goes ahead.

Brian Hext, 77, who runs Educational Holidays, said a plan for a drop-off and pick-up depot near the fire station at Rochester Airport would probably mean him “closing up shop”.

Mr Hext said the former facility in Gas House Road, Rochester, which closed two weeks ago, was ideal because it was central to the town and convenient for clients.

Mr Hext also believes moving the former park-and-ride park out of town to Curtis Way could put off tourists who flock to see the historic attractions.

Mr Hext, from Rochester, said: “My business depends on coach-bound continental visitors.

“On a yearly average we supply around 5,000 nights’ accommodation with the student passengers staying between three and 14 nights at a time, therefore bringing into the local economy a considerable amount of money.

“One of my German clients reckons that over the 10 years or more he has been coming to Rochester it amounts to over half a million pounds.

“Without an easily accessible coach park, I am having to consider closing up shop. Other organisations carrying out a similar business are in the same position.”

The old coach park had to close to make way for a new school which is part of the multi-million pound Rochester Riverside development.

Officers have spent three years trying to find a suitable location with 52 other options identified, but discounted for varying reasons.

These have included a controversial plan to move it on to the Esplanade, a picturesque spot between the castle and the River Medway, which was scrapped after a wave of protest.

A plan to create more parking bays at the back of the Visitor Information Centre and an area in New Road between Chatham and Rochester have also been discussed.

Deputy council leader Cllr Howard Doe, speaking at cabinet, said: “We have tried very hard all over the Rochester area to find a place that is easy in terms of traffic management.

“In a sense, this is the last-chance saloon to find a decent site as we’ve exhausted all the options.”

Medway Council’s cabinet members agreed last Tuesday to devote authority-owned “informal open space” in Curtis Way for the facility, which would replace the now-closed site in Gas House Road.

The proposed site is a former park-and-ride car park, and sits next to Rochester Fire Station.

According to council papers, a planning application will be submitted this month before being determined next year.