The area with the highest number of lorries parked overnight has been revealed.

Lorry drivers are choosing to park in Swale overnight more than anywhere else in Kent, according to a county council report.

A survey has found an average of 246 HGVs a night parked on the borough’s roads in 2017 and 2018.

The tally was completed by KCC’s highway stewards who headed out to known hotspots between 8pm and midnight on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights in June and September 2017 and 2018. On one night, Thursday, September 27, there were 265 HGVs parked up in Swale.

It heads a table which sees Canterbury in second place with 98, while both Ashford and Tonbridge and Malling have 91.

Swale overwhelmingly suffered the most with an average of 246 lorries parked each night.

Tunbridge Wells, in the west of the county, was least affected with an average of just four.

Maidstone, meanwhile, was ranked seventh out of the 13 districts in the county, according to the report, with an average of 47.

The cabinet member for planning, highways, transport and waste, representing Swale West, Cllr Mike Whiting, said: “Thankfully, there’s enormous commercial activity in Swale.We’ve got business parks which are centres of employment but with that it brings traffic.

"It’s a problem for communities who have to put up with lorries on residential streets. I have no preference with where, but there’s a need for some capacity along the A249 corridor.”

Malling councillor and former KCC transport chief, Cllr Matthew Balfour, added: “The figures for Tonbridge and Malling will be high purely for geographical reasons.

“The M2 and M20 run through the area and there are also places like Paddock Wood which are major centres for the logistics industry so there are an awful lot of lorries running through and it is likely to be somewhere their technology may suggest they stop. We need to have a range of lorry parks across the county where drivers can park and not disturb local residents.”

To tackle the problem, KCC officers have approached private lorry park operators who have shown an interest in opening an overnight hub, but it would need an investment of £10-£20m.

Some of the most popular places were Cullet Drive, Queenborough, where there were 29 lorries, Cromwell Road, Sheerness, where there were 15, and New Road, Sheerness, with seven.

Eurolink Industrial Estate in Sittingbourne also proved popular with 21 in Castle Road, 17 in Bonham Drive and 13 in Upper Field Road.

There were also 36 on the A249, between Stockbury and the Sheppey Crossing. No reason was given in the report for why Swale, in particular, suffers with the problem. Canterbury was next worse, with an average of 98 a night.

The report added: “Legal requirements on drivers necessitate regular rest breaks and it is common for these to be taken in Kent either before or after making the Channel crossing or when delivering to industrial estates.

“This causes a proliferation of unofficial and inappropriate lorry parking on Kent’s roads, the damaging effects of which are felt by residents and businesses.”