Students in north Kent can expect better higher education facilities now a college is investing £15.3m moving from its "antiquated" campus to a modern site.

North West Kent (NWK) College is in the middle of negotiations to transfer its 1950s Dartford campus in Miskin Road to the University of Greenwich site in Oakfield Lane, Wilmington.

Nearly 3,000 NWK students will be involved in the transfer which will take place over a 10-month period starting in July.

Courses currently held at the Wilmington site will move to the university's Avery Hill campus and the School of Engineering at the university's campus in Medway.

NWK College's principal Malcolm Bell says the Wilmington site will provide bigger and more modern facilities for students who have been studying at the "antiquated" Miskin Road campus.

He said: "We want to meet the demand for and growth of further education locally.

"This exciting new development will enable us to provide substantially improved facilities for our students at a time when there is an increasing need to cater for people looking for job-related qualifications and professional development."

The college decided to move to Wilmington because it wanted to increase its facilities and discovered it would cost £7.35m to refurbish the Miskin Road site.

Leader of Dartford Council Councillor John Muckle welcomed the move.

He said: "This is very good news for Dartford.

"The purchase by North West Kent College is a positive statement which assures the continuance and further enhancement of the borough's status as a centre for excellence in education."

Staff at the University of Greenwich say they are pleased the Wilmington site will continue to be used for education purposes.

The university decided last year to focus on its three other campuses Avery Hill, Medway and Maritime Greenwich and sell the Oakfield Lane site.

University staff will continue to protect the historic legacy of Madame Osterberg, who founded a college on the site in 1895, by looking after the Bergman-Osterberg archive.

The National Learning and Skills Council has approved a grant to support the college's purchase of the university site.