Dover MP Charlie Elphicke has defended a decision to accept an offer from the Road Haulage Association to pay for a researcher.

The Conservative MP said: "The researcher is looking at how we can be ready on day one for Brexit - particularly at the Dover front line.”

"This is vital work for both my constituency and the haulage industry. No-one wants to see long queues of lorries at Dover.”

"In this work the interests of the haulage industry and my constituency are strongly aligned. That's why we decided to join forces."

The donation of £22,577 appears in the latest version of the MPs' Register of Interests and is within the rules on donations.

It is the single highest donation in the register's section on "gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources".

The MP has been vocal about the traffic issues around his constituency and supportive of controversial plans for a huge lorry park capable of holding 3,600 HGVs in the event of Operation Stack being implemented.

He and other MPs recently met with the Brexit minister Steve Baker to underline their concerns that preparations were underway to ensure ports were not gridlocked when the UK left the EU in 2019.

MPs are required to declare any gifts, benefits and hospitality over a value of £300.

The latest register was published on August 29 and most declarations date from the beginning of 2016 to July 2017.