A garden pottery firm has announced plans for a multi-million pound new warehouse to help the business continue to grow.

Vatre Terracotta has submitted its plans to the council for the new site at Tutt Hill opposite the Holiday Inn hotel on the A20 near Hothfield, Ashford.

The company is part of the Apta pottery brand, and supplies products to more than 1,000 garden centres in the UK and Ireland, as well as being an exclusive supplier to the Royal Horticultural Society.

Managing director Paul Sykes says the company has spent two years looking for new properties away from its head office and distribution centre in Dencora Way and Leacon Road near the town centre.

He said that if approved, the new £3.5 million warehouse will safeguard 30 jobs and will take over the six acre site currently owned by Oakover Nurseries, allowing the company to expand.

Mr Sykes said: “We are an Ashford success story, but as we have grown we’ve had to lease adjacent buildings, which is an expensive solution and is not sustainable in the long term.

“In recent years we have made the difficult decision to decline several opportunities because we simply weren’t in a position to compete properly from our current location.

“We just can’t tender for that sort of business due to lack of space at our premises, but with a move to a bigger site we can invest in expansion and that will lead to more jobs and prosperity.

“The A20 site is big enough for us to expand. It’s got excellent vehicle access and is convenient for the M20 and for our imports by road from Europe. It’s also within easy reach of Ashford so our existing workforce will have good access, and, above all, it’s affordable.

“Tutt Hill is very important to our future in Ashford because if our planning application is successful it will allow us to remain in the town for the foreseeable future.”

A decision on the planning application is expected by December this year.