Construction work at a new care home is now well underway, and its first residents could move in during autumn next year.

Jenner Group is building the 68-bed facility near the William Harvey Hospital, which will be operated by Care UK.

The site has been earmarked for expansion in Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan up to 2030, in a bid to increase capacity from 122 available beds in 2016 to an expected 229 in 2020.

Care UK was given planning permission in July 2016 for care home, which will include en-suite bathrooms, a hairdressing salon, a coffee shop, a cinema, lounges and a dining room.

Care UK communications manager Sheila Roberts said: “The new home will take on board the latest thinking in design, with everything from a coffee shop for lazy mornings with family and friends, to the latest technology to keep residents safe in their bedrooms.”

The estimated opening date is in September 2019, and Care UK says it will create up to 100 new jobs.

Jenner Group’s business development manager Ella Brocklebank said: “It is wonderful to have the opportunity to work with Care UK on another prestigious scheme.

“It will create a well-designed, contemporary and essential care facility that helps to address the requirement for better elderly care provision in Ashford and the surrounding local community.”

The scheme follows the expansion of care home provision since the millennium, with the building of Brabourne Care Centre and Ashminster House in Hythe Road and the BUPA care home at Warren Lodge.

Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council have also developed schemes including Chamberlain House near junction 9 of the M20, Farrow Court in Stanhope and Danemore in Tenterden.