Work has started on the first pub at Ebbsfleet Garden City.

Brewery Marston’s is aiming to have it open for business in October, with 220 seats and a 104-bedroom hotel.

The pub is being built at Ebbsfleet Green, just off the A2, where 70 of developer Redrow’s 180 first-phase homes have already been sold and more than a dozen have been occupied.

In total more than 600 homes have been started across the garden city in the last year, with Persimmon and Barratt Homes building 170 and 112 homes respectively at Eastern Quarry.

Clarion Housing is putting up 125 affordable homes on the site, with 25 of them already reserved.

Eastern Quarry will also feature the garden city’s first primary school, which will open in the Castle Hill village in September.

The “large, striking and contemporary” 420-pupil school will be run by the Leigh Academies Trust under the name Cherry Orchard Primary.

It will also provide places for 26 nursery children and 15 special needs pupils.

At Springhead Park, Countryside Properties is working on its latest phase of 123 apartments and houses, with 35 homes to be released for sale in the next few weeks.

The developer’s managing director of new homes and communities in the south, Iain McPherson, said: “Springhead Park provides exceptional quality housing within an already established community.

“Since the launch we have experienced a high volume of sales as a result of affordable homes in a desirable location for many local buyers, as well as those wanting a commutable location from our close proximity with Ebbsfleet International.”

This summer work will begin on a £12 million bridge linking Springhead Park with the high-speed station, and a series of walkways and cycle paths will be placed across the garden city.

Paul Spooner, interim chief executive of Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC), said: “This has been a remarkable year as we have exceeded the 600 target for starts on new homes.

“Compare this to the previous year when there was just 60 starts on site and you see a picture of rapid development taking shape.

“Our private partner housing developers tells us that interest in the garden city is incredibly strong and sales have been buoyed by the Help to Buy scheme which is giving people a real step on the property ladder.”

The government scheme has been used in 90% of purchases so far and the EDC is aiming to deliver 5,100 homes at Ebbsfleet by 2021. The eventual target is 15,000.