A traveller family’s plan to set up home in a village has been met with opposition.

More than 130 letters of objection have been submitted to Swale council about a proposal for two mobile home units to be installed in Spade Lane, Hartlip.

An associated utility block and services, as well as allocated parking spaces, are also included in the development.

If approved, unit one will be occupied by the applicant Alfred Smith and his wife Karen along with their daughters, Taylor and Jordan, both 16.

In the other will live Mr Smith’s son, who is also called Alfred. Within the application, the couple state they are planning to keep horses in the field to the west of the site.

It is said the animals will be “of great benefit” to their daughters’ careers as they are hoping to take equestrian exams and undergo training in the Swale area in the near future. They are now being privately tutored in Sittingbourne.

Boundaries to the north and east of the site have existing planting but it is proposed native species, including hawthorn, buckthorn and hornbeam, will be installed on the west and south.

Out of 135, only two letters of support have been put forward. The rest are against it. One resident wrote: “This will open the floodgates for more supposed travellers to apply.”

Another said: “It is on a greenfield site and our open rural countryside should not be developed unless all other options have been exhausted.”

Richard Smith, of Greens Motor Group, London Road, Rainham, wrote in support, saying: “The applicant is a very hard-working individual and one who Greens used on many occasions and we found to be extremely honest, reliable and trustworthy.

“The application must be judged by planners on an individual basis and I am confident that they will reach the right decision and not be influenced by the very active antagonists that appear to have been busy.”