Risk of creating more problems

The Port of Dover has also expressed reservations, telling Highways England a relief lorry park could create more problems than it solved.

The port’s submission states: “There is a real risk of trying to create a panacea, the effects of which creates more issues than it solves.”

It emphasises that last summer’s disruption over an uninterrupted 35-day period were “unique and unprecedented” and once the root causes were addressed “the status quo resumed quickly.”

It says there is a “substantial risk” that “investing a large sum of money” in dealing with Op Stack will lead to “other elements” added on to justify the costs – a reference to the option of operating it as an overnight lorry park throughout the year.

While the port offers support for the Stanford West option, it states that the site’s location 23km from the port “is clearly going to have significant impacts on the port’s business.”

It also queries whether the relief lorry park will be able to release 400 HGVs an hour.

It argues the lorry park should be one element of a wider strategy that included the option of making more of the A2 a dual carriageway to deal with hauliers diverting away from the M20.