Room for 3,600 freight vehicles

Former Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin last year confirmed the government’s preferred site for a lorry park to deal with Operation Stack would be off Junction 11 of the M20.

The site at Stanford, which lies between Ashford and Folkestone, would be the world’s second-largest, holding about 3,600 lorries.

Former Chancellor George Osborne allocated £250 million for the project which has divided opinion between villagers, hauliers and MPs.

Broadcaster Janet StreetPorter this week lent her support to SOS Kent, which is campaigning to stop the 250 acres being concreted over.

Operation Stack is introduced when freight cannot reach the Continent. Lorries are parked on the coast-bound M20, with other traffic diverted to the A20.

In 2015, repeated use of Operation Stack had an estimated cost to the Kent economy of about £1.45m a day, and to the country of about £250 million a day.