The final fight against Kent International Gateway begins on Tuesday.

Hundreds of people are expected to attend the first day of the public inquiry into the plan for a road-rail freight depot covering 285 acres of countryside at Bearsted.

The initial sessions of the hearing will be held at the Ramada Hotel, in Ashford Road, Bearsted.

The area's leading politicians including Kent County Council leader Cllr Paul Carter (Con) and MP Hugh Robertson (Con), have called for as many people as possible to attend the inquiry.

Proceedings begin at 10am with the opening remarks of the inquiry inspector Andrew Phillipson. Afterwards there will be opening statements from KIG, the Environment Agency, Natural England, StopKIG, CPRE and Mr Robertson, before the first witness is called, probably not until late in the afternoon.

The inquiry resumes on Wednesday at the same venue with evidence from a number of Maidstone council expert witnesses.

Full details from the inquiry website >>>

Both Maidstone council and Kent County Council have upgraded their legal teams ahead of the inquiry.

Maidstone council, which had already engaged the services of barrister Stephen Whale, has now added Tim Corner, QC, to head their legal team.

KCC, who at the KIG pre-inquiry meeting were represented by their own in-house lawyer Libby McCutcheon, have now added Craig Howell Williams, QC, to their team.

Both silks are considered to be top-flight barristers in their fields, on a par with KIG’s highly regarded legal advocate Christopher Katkowski, QC.