Works for a long-awaited public space project in Dartford are set to commence on July 1, according to developers.

Brewery Square, a name chosen to celebrate a historic connection with the town’s brewing industry, aims to reduce congestion in Market Street, raise local air quality and provide new parking for shoppers as well as better links between Central Park and the High Street.

This new public space is part of an ongoing regeneration project of Dartford town which, in some cases, has been years in the making.

Keen developers have said that the key aim of the Brewery Square project is to eliminate congestion caused by queuing to enter the Iceland short stay car park in Market Street.

The existing car park will be closed and replaced by a larger car park nearby in the grounds of Acacia Hall behind Dartford Library.

Once opened, the new car park will offer direct access for vehicles through the existing Overy Liberty entrance and new pedestrian gates will lead straight on to Brewery Square.

Project manager, Keith Longley has said: "We initially hoped we could redesign the existing Iceland car park but every potential design either failed to reduce congestion or proved impractical on safety grounds.

"We know that a short stay car park close to the town centre is very popular so we will be creating a new one just yards away.

"Sadly, we can’t provide the new car park until the first phase of Brewery Square is complete so we are providing as much on-street parking as possible and asking town centre visitors to use other shopping centre and council car parks around the town until we can get the new car park open.

"We appreciate the loss of car parking spaces during construction will be inconvenient for shoppers and businesses but we will be working hard to ensure the new car park is operational by Spring 2020."

Due to the nature of the works, bus stops located on Market Street will be move to Home Gardens and will create a single stop for passengers heading both eastbound and westbound.

The work has been timed to take place alongside the redevelopment of Lowfield Street and is scheduled to finish by Summer 2020.

Market Street will remain open throughout the construction period although a number of temporary weekend closures are anticipated.

Council Leader Jeremy Kite said, "I’m afraid that any change to road layouts will mean some inconvenience during construction but Dartford must take action to tackle some of the congestion and air-quality issues we have in the town centre.

"It’s the ideal time to do it because it coincides with work on Lowfield Street and means we can minimise the time the town faces disruption."