Commercial property company Custodian REIT has paid more than £3m for a petrol filling station and convenience store site in Kent.

The site, at Beechings Way, Gillingham, on the A289 dual-carriageway, is let to the Co-operative Group.

Richard Shepherd-Cross, managing director of Custodian Capital, the company’s external fund manager, said: “We understand that 2013 was the first year since 1966 that the number of petrol filling stations in the UK has increased.

“This fact, combined with the huge expansion in convenience retailing, makes a petrol filling station with a large forecourt and a busy convenience store a compelling acquisition.”

The property is let on a 25-year lease expiring on 15 April 2028 with no breaks at a current rent of £268,500 a year, reflecting a net initial yield of 8.32 per cent.

Custodian REIT funded the £3.05m deal through cash resources following a placing of shares in October 2014 which raised £25m.