The MP for Sandwich, Craig Mackinlay, has called the latest proposals for Operation Stack a “crackpot idea.”

Mr Mackinlay is against the solutions devised from research conducted by the Port of Dover.

It proposed that a section of the A256 dual carriageway between Dover and Eastry could be used as a lorry park to hold more than 1,000 lorries.

Many fear this would completely cut off Sandwich, Deal and the rural villages, leaving ordinary traffic struggling with the pressure of high quantities of lorries.

Mr Mackinlay said: “I am campaigning with other Kent MPs for proper lorry parks on the M20 route and changes to Kent Highways enforcement powers to ensure they are used in ‘normal’ times, preventing haphazard lay-by parking that litters Kent.”

Deal and Dover MP Charlie Elphicke has also criticised the report and the second option to use the A2 from the Lydden Hill junction, which is the last section of carriageway, northwards towards Bridge.

The port said this route could hold up to 640 light goods vehicles.

But Mr Elphicke also said residents had told him the suggestions were “simply crackpot.”

He said: “I have consulted widely on the harbour board’s plan to turn the A2 and the A256 into lorry parks.

“The harbour board are seeking to block lorry parks on the M20 but everyone knows this is the obvious long term solution.

“They need to work with the Dover, Deal and wider Kent community in helping to deliver this much needed long term solution.”

The statement from the port said: “Both options directly feed Dover and would be particularly beneficial for local hauliers who currently have to travel some 40 miles to join the back of stack.

“A further option with minimal advantages using the A2 Jubilee Way was also identified but is the least favoured.”

It said that the options keeps port traffic closer, which reduces lorry miles and air pollution.
Once Operation Stack comes into force again, lorries will currently be diverted to Manston Airport - a 50-mile diversion from the M20 along the A256 by Eastry and Sandwich and towards Thanet.

A port spokesman said: “While the port will continue to work positively with partners in operating the Manston scheme as and when required, it still believes that the potential options may have considerable benefits for local hauliers, for the port and operation of the Stack, for the residents of Dover and also the residents of Thanet.”

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