Traffic heading to the Channel Tunnel from a Lower Thames Crossing may be sent down the A249 connecting Sittingbourne and Maidstone rather than Blue Bell Hill, under plans being discussed by senior Kent politicians.

The plans would go against the Option C variant scheme put forward in the original consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing, which suggested widening the A229 between the M2 and M20.

Instead, the A249 would be widened and Junction 5 at Sittingbourne on the M2 would be upgraded, along with Junction 7 of the M20. Work would also take the M2 to three lanes from junctions 4 to 5.

Kent County Council economic development chief Cllr Mark Dance is in favour of the strategy, along with Swale Borough Council leader Cllr Andrew Bowles.

“The A249 is a goodie,” said Cllr Dance. “It slightly hooks back on itself but it is an easy run. Blue Bell Hill is horrible.

“How will you get a third Thames crossing’s traffic down the M20 via Blue Bell Hill? How are you going to do it?

“Does that really give you a choice if there are issues on the M20?

“So why don’t you take that problem further down the M2 and sort out a problem Sittingbourne has with its largest industrial park in the county?

“I think a better alternative is to use the A249 from Sittingbourne to Maidstone.

“There is plenty of land either side of the dual carriageway and there is potential for large, high-tech industrial parks.

“That will really give you a choice when you reach Sittingbourne to say ‘is there any trouble on the roads ahead on the M20?’ If it’s ‘yes, there’s trouble there’s trouble’ you can carry on via the M2.”

cllr Bowles said: “I think it’s a goer. I have been talking a long time with KCC about the feasibility of it because it ticks so many boxes.

“It is one of the shortest routes between the two motorways, it is a road that has got to be upgraded and a road where Highways England or the government have got to fund the junction improvement, so why don’t they roll it all into one scheme and get the best bang for their buck?”

An upgrade also has the backing of business.

Douglas Horner, a director of Trenport Investment, which has developed Eurolink business park in Sittingbourne, said: “It would be hugely important to a whole raft of interests to do that.

“It would have a significant impact on Sittingbourne, on Maidstone and all the things in between. It is a very important item.”