Campaigners fighting to protect the Goodwin Sands are meeting government officials today (Wednesday) to discuss the controversial dredging plan.

Members of the Save Our Sands group will raise a number of issues including concerns over a forthcoming archeological survey, which they claim is "not foolproof".

The meeting with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) follows the result of the latest public consultation which pushed the number of ooposers past the 1,000 mark.

This is in addition to 13,000 people who have signed an online petition also objecting to the Port of Dover’s plan to dredge the historic marine site.

Joanna Thomson, coordinator of the campaign group, says the meeting is a chance for the MMO to update them on the application.

But she says they will use it as an opportunity to raise their concerns.

“One is about the use of the magnetometer survey which Historic England is going to use to detect iron objects in the Goodwin Sands,” she said.

“It’s good that Historic England is being proactive about this but we have got an expert on board who says the test is not foolproof.

“The worry is, if it doesn’t find anything when there actually is something there, the MMO will then say there is nothing there and the dredging will be allowed.”

One of the key points in their fight is the impact the dredging will have on the heritage of the Goodwin Sands.

It is estimated there are remains of 59 German pilots and gunners there, 20 British aircrew and three Poles.

All were killed during the Battle of Britain in 1940 and there are also believed to be the wrecks of 62 warplanes there.

Ms Thomson said: “As a nation we go to such lengths to remember servicemen who lost their lives.

“And yet here we are, allowing a developer to dig up these final resting places. It is utter hypocrisy.”

Protesters also fear it will have a catastrophic impact on wildlife and the environment, and on coastal erosion.

Dover Harbour Board, which runs the port, submitted the application to the MMO for a licence to dredge the site for aggregate.

Port chiefs say it is part of the wider development within the Western Docks.

It is proposed that up to 2.5 million cubic metres of aggregate will be dredged from the South Goodwin Sands.

Bosses at DHB say in the “unlikely” event something currently unknown is discovered, it will trigger the “recognised industry protocol” of mapping, recording and establishing an exclusion zone.

The board also stressed that, if a licence is granted, best practice procedures would be used.