Ross Perot, the American businessman who twice ran for the US presidency in 1992 and 1996, is not the kind of person expected to be found wandering the Romney Marsh.

Yet a little over decade ago, the sparse flat plains in the south of Kent were close to being transformed by an eye-watering investment from the Texas technology entrepreneur.

“We nearly brought $1.8bn into the area through Ross Perot,” said Captain Jonathan Gordon, a shareholder in Lydd airport.

Mr Gordon has twice owned the airport outright and sold the site to its present owner, Sheikh Fahad Al-Athel, in 2001 – a move he quietly regrets to this day because he gave away its control.

He sold it as he looked for investment to expand the site, following two years of bottom line profits in 1999 and 2000.

Yet it was the contacts of those working for the Saudi business mogul who managed to catch the eye of US billionnaire Perot in 2003 – and very nearly broker a deal which would have made Lydd the air-freight capital of Europe.

“We were cash positive so I thought I needed to go into the market and get development capital,” said Mr Gordon, also a director of ABA, the company which owns and operates the airline LyddAir and various other aviation ventures.

“I wasn’t going to go to the institutions so I went around the world and came up with a Saudi sheik. It wasn’t the brightest thing I ever did.”

Mr Gordon was persuaded to go into business with the Arab investor after striking up a close relationship with British solicitor Michael Winskell, then managing director of more than 60 of Sheikh Fahad Al-Athel’s companies.

“Michael saw my vision for Lydd and he went for it but the trouble was he went over the top,” said Mr Gordon.

“He went straight for goal, with all sorts of expensive lobbying of the Labour government at that time.”

Lydd was then pitched to Ross Perot as a potential industrial air hub in Europe, which would become the drop off point for world-renowned cargo operators like Fed Ex.

“One of the things I had always been saying about this area was it has a high degree of deprivation but shouldn’t have because of the Channel Tunnel,” said Mr Gordon.

“There is a Channel Tunnel corridor, people don’t stop here, they just keep on going."

His idea hinged on attracting long distance freight operators to use Lydd as a hub for dropping off their cargo, which could then be transported across Europe using the Channel Tunnel.

“We nearly brought $1.8bn into the area through Ross Perot...” - Captain Jonathan Gordon

Mr Gordon said: “The idea was if you could find a place with a reliable conduit into Europe, like the Channel Tunnel, and break bulk the cargo here and vice versa when it comes in from Europe, you hit what the freight operators need to do.”

However, the deal never came to pass. Sheikh Fahad Al-Athel apparently fell out with some of his staff over the deal.

He declared himself uninterested in the investment.

“We nearly got them in,” said Mr Gordon. “For one reason or another the Sheikh didn’t wish to pursue that option.”

Lydd airport declined to comment.

Ross Perot could not be reached for comment.