Plans to improve an airport, including the construction of a new control tower, have been given the go-ahead by councillors.

Medway Council's planning committee unanimously supported the scheme for Rochester Airport – which also comprises a new hub building, family viewing area, car parking and relocated helipads – at a meeting last night.

The existing control tower, old clubhouse, and two portacabins housing the airport and Skytrek offices will all be demolished as part of the works.

The decision to close the airport's second grass runway by April 2019 did not require planning approval.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) said: "The whole site is looking very tired, so new modern buildings would be a great improvement.

"This improves the future of the airport by making it more viable, up-to-date, and a better place for people to visit.

"As an authority, we're determined to keep Rochester Airport and we believe this is an important asset for the whole of Medway, and I most certainly welcome this application.

"It's just so sad that for various reasons it's taken so long to get to this."

A total of 25 letters of objection or concern, mainly focused on potential impacts on local residents, where submitted during the public consultation phase.

Meanwhile, 24 supportive comments were also submitted.

The scheme, which has been given £4.4 million of public money by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, will also help free up land for the Innovation Park Medway project.

Operator Rochester Airport Limited has one last hurdle to clear in terms of a holding objection from Highways England relating to the closure of a grass runway.

Medway Council's head of planning Dave Harris explained: "Because there will be a slight increase of the number of aircraft landing and taking off the main runway, they are coming across over the motorway (M2).

"They want a risk assessment based on that, even though the number of overall aircraft using the airport will be slightly decreasing.

"That's with Highways England. We were hoping they would confirm in writing today they are now happy, but we haven't got that confirmation."