Government ministers now think ‘Brexit means Dover’ thanks to a high-profile campaign by the district council, its leader has claimed.

A report on how Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union could impact the town has received significant interest since it was first published earlier this year.

It made national headlines in August when the document highlighted a “permanent solution” to deal with potential traffic backlogs from the Port of Dover “will not be in place for many years”.

Dover District Council leader Cllr Keith Morris (Con) said the report has been a key component in making government take notice of the area’s needs.

He told scrutiny committee members: “We’ve had a lot of not just local interest, but national and international interest too – and it’s served us terrifically well.

“One of the key purposes of the report was to raise the profile of Dover when the word Brexit came about.

“We wanted to make sure the decision makers needed to have Dover on their lips every time they said Brexit.”

Dover came under the spotlight again last week when Brexit secretary Dominic Raab (Con) admitted he “hadn’t quite understood” how reliant UK trade was on ferries between the Kent town and Calais. Mr Raab has since resigned his ministry tweeting today: "I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU."

Cllr Morris added: “I suppose, in a strange way, I was quite pleased to hear Dominic Raab’s strange utterance last week when he said something like I didn’t realise Dover was so important.

“Well, I’m glad you do now because that’s what we’re shouting about.”