Social services chiefs say there has been a dramatic decline in the number of young asylum seeker children arriving in the county.

Figures show the county council has had 357 unaccompanied asylum children referred to it this year to date, compared with 948 in 2015 - a drop of 591.

This month, the council had just one young asylum seeker referred into its care compared with 51 in November 2015.

The sharp decline is said to be unrelated to the introduction of a national dispersal scheme under which new arrivals are placed with other councils and is designed to ease the pressure on social services in Kent and others such as Hillingdon, near Heathrow.

KCC says the scheme does not include the large numbers it has had to deal with before its introduction.

However, while the number of arrivals has dropped significantly there remains a challenge for the council as many already in its care are now turning 18 and the costs of so-called “care leavers” are not fully met by the government.

Cllr Peter Oakford, the cabinet member for children’s services, said: "We are finally starting to see a decline in numbers... there is a dramatic drop off in arrivals. We have had 115 young people dispersed via the National Dispersal Programme although it is not mandatory."

There had been some fears there could be another spike in arrivals in the county as the Calais migrant camp was being dismantled but that appears not to have been the case.

In October, there were 17 arrivals compared to 212 for the same month last year - the lowest monthly figure for two years.

Andrew Ireland, social services director, said it was important to remember that KCC had taken into care 1,000 children.

He expected another 100 would turn 18 in January meaning KCC would be looking after more “care leavers” than asylum seeker children.

“The figures are still high. I have to say that if any of my director colleagues had to take 40 children a month they would be shouting from the rooftops whereas for us it is a relatively quiet month," he said.

A report on the figures underlined that Kent remains under significant pressure compared to many other councils, with 730 children in its care under the age of 17.

On top of that, it now has 600 over the age of 18 who are excluded from the voluntary dispersal arrangements.

KCC says it is also in talks with the government about the impact of the so-called Dubs Amendment, which seeks to safeguard unaccompanied asylum seeker with no family links in Europe.

The authority has argued that it should be exempt from a requirement to take more children under the provision owing to its existing high numbers.