The opening date for an ambitious theme park and entertainment project billed as Kent's answer to Disneyland has been pushed back yet again.

Plans for the £2.5 billion London Resort on the Swanscombe Peninsula were first announced in 2012 and it was hoped it would open by 2019.

The project, set on a 535-acre marshland and brownfield site between Dartford and Gravesend, continues to be fraught with delays and an official examination is yet to get under way.

Delays were granted at the request of the developers to address transport concerns and the area's new-found protected environmental status.

But now it appears the commercial venture may have hit another snag, with a revised opening date of 2024 now set back another year to 2025.

Information on a new website promoting the designers tasked with bringing the London Resort vision to life now reads: "The London Resort is currently finalising its DCO application in preparation for groundbreaking 2022 and an opening date of 2025."

A tweet from the London Resort team also stated the revised opening date, alongside a new image from designers showing a fire-breathing dragon perched on a turreted castle.

The image, which shows crowds in the foreground as lava pours from the castle walls, has prompted speculation that a "Game of Thrones" themed area is now planned for the park.

It comes amid growing pressure from the Planning Inspectorate – the body tasked with deciding the fate of the first commercial venture to be awarded "nationally significant infrastructure project" status.

In its most recent update, the body noted a "substantial and rising concern" about whether an continuing delay to the start of the examination process remains justified.

The examining authority has been critical of London Resort's approach to providing information and said the applicant’s conduct was a relevant consideration for what happens next.

Criticisms have been levelled at the developers for "failing to engage" with local authorities over their concerns.

Meanwhile, local businesses subject to controversial compulsory purchase powers on the surrounding business estates claim the development has "paralysed" their futures and likened it to "like being on death row".

Now the Inspectorate is set to ask the London Resort how the extra time is being put to good use to "offset the harm" caused by the ongoing delay.

It has set out questions it wants the developers and interested parties to answer and has given a deadline of January 10 to respond.

A decision will then be made next month as to whether to allow London Resort to delay review until June/July or necessitate this take place in March.

If delayed again it would be the sixth time the project's opening date has been set back

Bosses behind the project claim it will create more than 6,000 construction jobs, as well as 48,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs by 2038.

Half of those will be sourced locally, according to the developers, which is inviting local and regional businesses to become part of its supply chain.

“To all businesses who believe they can play a part in creating a world of unique experiences, I encourage you to go to our website now, register your details and together we will create history,” said PY Gerbeau, the London Resort chief executive.

Earlier this month, the French entrepreneur, who masterminded the the 02 in Greenwich, says there will be no "material changes" to the bid.

He has vowed it will be built despite the "naysayers and doom-mongers".

"We remain committed to providing the examining authority with the new and updated documents as previously promised," said Mr Gerbeau.

"We can also confirm, as previously indicated that we will be addressing the full range of issues in relation to time-dependant information being sufficiently current and will, as a matter of normal process in any examination, be supplementing our reports with additional information."

London Resort confirmed the revised opening date but could not comment further.