By all means build your theme park, but don't do it at the expense of our local businesses.

That's the message to the developer of London Paramount from the Peninsula Management Group (PMG), a lobbying body which represents businesses set to be displaced by the £3.2 billion project on the Swanscombe Peninsula.

Around 140 businesses and some 2,500 employees currently occupy the site between Dartford and Gravesend, but the PMG is worried that every one of them could be lost as a result of London Resort Company Holdings' (LRCH) ambitious resort.

Now the group is calling on the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) - which is spearheading the nearby Ebbsfleet Garden City - to help LRCH understand the impact the loss of the existing businesses would have on the area.

Spokesman Dan Bramwell said: "Some of the EDC board members have been round the estates, but some have not, and these are the ones that will not understand the impact of getting rid of the estates.

"If the Paramount application goes in by late 2017 or early 2018, it will not be approved until late 2018 or early 2019. Some of these businesses need three years to relocate.

"I will be trying to speak to Sajid Javid (the former business secretary) and members of the new government to explain our situation.

"The last thing a Tory government will want to see is the loss of several thousand jobs and hundreds of businesses."

The PMG has asked members of the EDC board to visit the estates for a briefing and a tour, but most are yet to take up the invitation. Mr Bramwell insists the PMG does not object to the theme park, but wants the peninsula to continue to accommodate existing businesses.

Responding to the PMG's concerns at a board meeting at Springhead Park this afternoon, interim EDC chief executive Paul Spooner said there would be further opportunities for the group to make its case directly to LRCH.

"The last thing a Tory government will want to see is the loss of several thousand jobs and hundreds of businesses..." - Dan Bramwell

He said: "Whilst LRCH may have given an indication of the land they are likely to need for their project, the red line boundary for the project will only be finalised by LRCH once their application for consent has been made to the Secretary of State.

"We understand that LRCH are proposing to conduct another round of consultations for their proposals in early 2017 and would suggest that the PMG continue to discuss the concerns with them.

"The Secretary of State will decide whether the proposed red line set out in the application is appropriate when he takes the decision on whether or not to grant consent for the project."

LRCH claim that London Paramount will create 27,000 jobs and attract 15 million tourists per year, although question marks have been raised over its planned 2021 opening date after the firm delayed the submission of its planning application for a second time.

Plans for the project were due to submitted to the government this summer, having already been put back last year, but were delayed for the aforementioned further round of consultations.

The application is not expected to be submitted until the second quarter of 2017.