There was no champagne but there was a palpable sense of relief as Kent wrapped up the LV County Championship Division Two title just before noon on the third day of their clash with Leicestershire.

A flicked single off the pads by the division's leading run-scorer Martin van Jaarsveld took the hosts to 250 for a second batting bonus point that ensured Northamptonshire could no longer catch the long-time leaders.

There was a prolonged ripple of applause from a 1,000-strong crowd while van Jaarsveld touched gloves with his fellow South African Justin Kemp to mark the moment.

Otherwise the emotions remained under wraps as Kent ensured their return to the top-flight at the first time of asking.

Kent's director of cricket Graham Ford, who stands down at the end of the month, conceded he was proud of the achievement but relieved that the battle was now won.

He said: "Fortunately we have a group of guys here who are prepared to look in the mirror and do a lot of self assessment and they've put a

lot of things right.

"But it's been a massively long haul and everyone's delighted that that promotion and the title have been achieved.

"It's something you become more and more desperate to achieve. You see yourself in the race, feel it can be done, that you're almost there, but no matter how strong you're feeling, you then have one of those little nightmares about how things might possibly go wrong.

"Now there is a sense of relief, but also a real feeling of satisfaction at having done a job pretty well."

The title-clinching single took van Jaarsveld on to 89 and, despite losing Kemp soon after leg-before to a Wayne White shooter, he converted that into his seventh century of the summer, scored from 122 balls with 16 fours and two sixes.

With his score on 146 and his season's tally to an impressive 1,475 at an average of 70.23, van Jaarsveld wafted at a wide one from James Benning to edge to the keeper just before lunch.

Kent's tail wagged by adding a further 107 in the mid-session with cameo contributions from Ryan McLaren (44), James Tredwell (29) and Simon Cook (23no) before the ever-willing White, with three for 91, and Andrew Harris, four for 84, polished the job off just before tea.

With the title in the bag, Kent's patched-up seam attack understandably coasted through the final session of the day, allowing Leicestershire to reach 97 without loss when stumps were drawn after 38 overs.