Council may buy holiday parking

The council may buy a plot 50 miles away in a Sussex resort town

A town council is due to decide whether to spend £185,000 on buying a car park 50 miles away in a different county.

Swanley Town Council, in Kent, is considering the purchase of an undeveloped site in Eastbourne, on the East Sussex coast.

The council already owns a hotel in Eastbourne - the Swanley Court Hotel - which it uses to provide subsidised holidays for people from Swanley.

Brian Daley, chief executive of Swanley Town Council, said buying the plot, which is only yards from the hotel, could prove an investment for the town.

Council tax bill

He said: "The council will be looking at the business case and we may be able to make some money from this piece of land.

"Clearly we have got to look at it in the whole picture because if we don't spend money down in Eastbourne, we can spend it in Swanley."

The council said it had been trying to buy the plot for more than a decade but the proposal may meet some opposition from residents.

People living in a Band D property pay an annual £1,146 council tax bill, with £68 going to Swanley Town Council - a proportion 22%higher than in other town councils in the Sevenoaks District Council area.

Councillors were due to vote in a meeting on Wednesday night.