The Port of Dover has released an image illustrating the proportion of sand they say will be extracted from the Goodwin Sands if approval is granted.

Dover Harbour Board is considering digging up 2.5 million cubic metres of the sands for materials to use in its £120m Dover Western Docks Revival project.

It equates to a reported 0.22% of the total volume of the 10 mile-long natural sandbank which runs from Kingsdown to Pegwell Bay near Sandwich.

If it is approved by the Marine Maritime Organisation (MMO), the material will be shipped to the Western Docks in Dover, where a new cargo terminal and marina is being built.

The image aims to visually demonstrate the percentage of the sands which will be taken if its licence is granted.

It shows a big heap of orange sand to the left and a tiny little pile to the right, which the port is saying equates to how much it is aiming to use.

The paper version is headed: “0.22% of 50kg is 110g”.

Along with the image, port spokesman Antony Greenwood reiterated that the Goodwin Sands has been highlighted as the “option with the least overall environmental impact”.

His bullet-point statement said that thorough environmental studies had been completed and that more than 99.7% would be left untouched.

There will be no coastal impacts which includes wave heights, tidal currents and coastal erosion.

These points will be made publicly available in an environmental statement which is set to go on the MMO website.

The Save Our Sands campaign group is taking its campaign to the next level by encouraging people to join a petition.

With nearly 2,000 signatures, lead petitioner Laura Evers Johns said more is going to be done to promote it in the town and nationally.

It intends to generate 10,000 signatures before it is presented to the Marine Maritime Organisation.

For more information on the campaign, email GoodwinSandsSOS@gmail.com or visit goodwinsandssos.org