Plans have been submitted to extend a care home to “help to address” a lack of beds in the area.

Permission has been sought for a two-and-a-half-storey extension to Newington Court Care Home in Keycol Hill, near Sittingbourne.

If the proposals are approved by Swale council it would see eight ensuite bedrooms added.

Barchester Healthcare, which runs the home, says its research shows a shortfall of 658 beds within a five-mile radius of the site.

It says the extensions “would help to address” this shortfall.

The care home has 48 bedrooms as well as a mixture of lounge and dining spaces for residents.

The new rooms would take the total number of bedrooms to 56, up from 48.

The care provider also runs Falcon Place, next door to Newington Court. This has eight bedrooms for residents with dementia.

Altogether the group cares for more than 10,000 people at more than 170 different locations across the UK and Ireland.

In addition to the bedrooms, the new extension would have a lounge with accessible toilet facilities on the first floor.

The outside of the building would match the appearance of the current building which was built in 1997.

Two parking spaces would be added to the existing 19 spaces.

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Meanwhile, a minibus bay would be moved from the west side of the building to the east side of the building.

The council is expected to decide whether or not to grant planning permission by Tuesday, May 21.