Proposals to build a new public tram system to connect north Kent and Essex have been given the thumbs-up by a transport engineer behind a similar scheme in the north west.

Earlier this year KentOnline featured an extensive report on the £600 million KenEx Thames Transit, designed by financial accountant Gordon Pratt to combat congestion and air pollution on both sides of the Thames.

Mr Pratt previously worked with the London and Southern Counties Railway Consortium to come up with Brighton Main Line Two, a planned second railway connecting Brighton with the capital.

Professor Lewis Lesley has a similar track record, having been involved in the design of a £25 million tram in Preston, which is now being built.

“I spent 15 years of my life researching how to get people out of cars and onto buses to reduce congestion,” said Professor Lesley.

“Talking to my academic colleagues in Europe, I found that trams got people onto public transport very easily and far more than buses.

“As such there is a great deal of support in Preston for the tram line because of the congestion and very widespread pollution problems.”

Sound familiar? North Kent — notably Dartford — and Thurrock in Essex are both often gridlocked with traffic and suffer from terrible air quality, as does Gravesham.

Back in January, Friends of the Earth said the pollution in Gravesham was putting people “at risk of ill health and death”.

In March it emerged the government had failed to include the Dartford Crossing in assessments of air pollution because it classed it as a rural road, meaning it could have avoided fines for breaching EU pollution limits.

Professor Lesley continued: “In this part of Kent the issue is the serious traffic on the A2, the M25, the Dartford Crossing, and given the number of people expected at the theme park [formerly known as London Paramount], that’s a lot of cars.

“In a county like this where there’s so much traffic congestion and air pollution, the potential for a tram is enormous.

“If you can get even 10% of it on the tram, that’s a lot of cars off the road.

“The beauty of trams is that they are nonpolluting and in Preston we’re going to set up a two megawatt generator to power it — there are six of them in the Tilbury dock area already.

“There’s plenty of investment out there for public infrastructure projects that will end up paying for themselves.”

Mr Pratt and transport campaigner James Willis, who stood for the Liberal Democrats in Gravesham in last month’s general election, are the main drivers behind KenEx Thames Transit.

They have met with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation and Thurrock Council about the proposal, which constitutes a tram line running under the Thames from Grays, past Northfleet, and through the centre of Ebbsfleet Garden City.

Bluewater and the proposed Swanscombe theme park are likely destinations from there and Mr Willis hopes it could also serve Gravesend.

He is confident that the idea could become a reality, having received positive feedback during a public meeting at The Three Daws pub, Gravesend, earlier this month.

“It was great that we had Andrea Lee from environmental lawyers group ClientEarth and Professor Lesley from the Preston tram come to north Kent to support the campaign for cleaner air and public transport across the Thames,” he said.

“With the excellent support from the 20 or more residents at the meeting, it was really interesting. Let’s give our kids a real chance to breath some clean air as they grow up.”

KenEx Thames Transit, which would be commercially funded, would carry an estimated 58 million journeys to Bluewater each year – 36 million to the theme park, 53 million to Lakeside, and 2.5 million to Ebbsfleet International.

An interchange would be required for people heading to the theme park to avoid the issue of them using Bluewater for free parking and then heading to the theme park from there.

The multibillion pound Lower Thames Crossing, meanwhile, promises to improve vehicle capacity for vehicles heading over the Thames east of London by 70%, but the work is not expected to be completed for a decade.

Another £10 million has been set aside to improve the situation on the roads at Dartford in the meantime.