Children at St Peter's Church of England Primary School can look forward to soon enjoying a brand new school.

KCC planning committee has approved permission for a new two-storey school at Hawkenbury Farm, about a mile away from the current premises in Windmill Street.

The new two-form entry school will cost £7.1m to build and will be constructed in two phases: at first, a one-form entry school will be built to replace the existing St Peter's.

The second phase will see the building expanded to accommodate two forms of entry, which will allow for the extra pupils that will come from the new estate being built alongside the school.

Berkeley Homes was granted permission to build 235 homes back in 2016 and construction is under way.

The developers are paying £1.5m toward the cost of the school.

The school will have parking for 40 staff cars, including four disabled places, as well as an internal drop-off area for parents.

It will still be named St Peter's.

The old school, rated outstanding at its last Ofsted inspection takes only 140 pupils and is always over-subscribed.

It is disadvantaged by being spread over three sites, with both the playing field and the school hall remote from the main school building.

Cllr Andy Booth (Con) said: "It's always nice to see that this is one of the most over-subscribed schools in Kent.

"I'm happy to see a purpose-built brick school, massively needed in this area, as we all know, and I fully endorse this plan."

The plans also include a sports and outdoor play area, running track and multi-use games area.

Children would start school at 8.45am and go home from 3.25pm each day.

The head teacher of St Peter's, Lynn Goreham, was unavailable for comment.