A BRAKE has been put on plans to build a road-rail freight depot across 250 acres of Kent countryside.

The Highways Agency has issued an order that requires Kent International Gateway to submit far more detail on the effect its plans would have on the county's roads.

The order forces Maidstone council to stall its decision on the plans for rail sidings and a huge warehouse complex at Bearsted, near junction 8 of the M20.

The original deadline for a decision, February 13, will not now be met.

The council itself has also asked KIG for more details on other aspects of its plans, even though the application already consists of 20 documents including a two-volume environmental assessment.

Should KIG submit significant new details, the council may also be obliged to re-consult the public on the proposals which would result in yet further delay.

More than 3,500 people have already commented on the application. The vast majority are objections.

The council's director of operations, Alison Broom, welcomed the agency's intervention. She said: "This information will allow the Highways Agency to provide us with a full assessment of the likely impact of the proposal on traffic and roads."

When any new information is received, the council has promised to add it to the other application documents on the council's website.

The information will also be available for inspection at the Town Hall, at the council's London Road and Tonbridge Road offices, libraries and from the parish councils in the areas most directly affected by the proposal.

Maidstone council still expects that it will be allowed to determine the application, once the stop order is lifted, provided the scheme is not called in for a direct decision by the Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government in the meantime.

The chairman of the StopKIG campaign, Richard Horton, said: "It appears that the borough council will be unable to determine the planning application for some months.

"In the meantime we will all have to endure the continuing uncertainty for the future as a result of this unacceptable planning application backed by the AXA Group."

The chairman of the Bearsted and Thurnham Society Brian Clifford said: "As the highways issue is a mammoth concern to the whole area and all the users of the M20, we welcome the Highways Agency’s intervention.

"We regret, however, that this will cause further considerable delay while AXA/KIG produce the details required, and that Maidstone council will be unable to determine this appalling proposal until the information has been received, evaluated and consulted upon."