THE Kent brewery company Shepherd Neame has ended months of speculation by confirming that it is planning to expand onto the East Kent Packers site at Faversham.

The firm is buying 9,600sq metres of warehousing on a 6.7 acre site from EKP enabling it to move its warehousing and distribution operation to the Western Link Road industrial estate. The firm says it should create jobs long term.

Hand in hand with the move, the brewery is going ahead with its plan to develop the Francis Davis site in North Road by extending its bottling hall. Together the developments will cost £3.3 million.

Planning applications for the warehousing and distribution operation, a new access road of the Western Link Road and the development on the Francis Davis site have been submitted to Swale council.

Shepherd Neame's managing director Jonathan Neame, said that if permission is granted and all went to plan, the company would take occupation of the EKP site in July or August, 2003. Moving the operation would take until the early part of 2004.