A dockyard pumping house could become Kent's first distillery producing premium vodka, gin and whisky if planning permission is granted.

An application has been submitted to Medway Council to convert Pump House No.5, a grade II listed Victorian building which was used to pump water out of the dry docks at Chatham Dockyard.

Russell Distillers Ltd want to turn the former boiler room into a craft distillery as well as opening up a visitor centre.

The distillery will produce vodka, gin and whisky which will be sold commercially throughout the UK and also exported abroad.

The application envisages that "the distillery, like so many in Scotland, [will] become a destination tourist attraction appealing to residents and visitors of Kent and London".

In the first year, the distillery is expected to process three tonnes per week of malt, and produce 10,471 cases. With 12 bottles per case, this is equivalent to 125,655 70cl bottles or 35,183 litres or alcohol per year.

At 40% strength the main product will be premium vodka, followed by gin and then whisky being the lowest volume produced.

Maiden Distillery in Maidstone only produces gin, meaning the proposed dockyard distillery would be the first in Kent to produce a variety of spirits.

The malt will be sourced from local farmers, and the equipment will also be produced locally. It is proposed that the waste heat will be used to heat the building.

The distillery will create eight full-time and four part-time jobs.