A major public meeting will take place tonight over the Operation Stack lorry park row.

MP Damian Collins, who wants such a site in the area, will face probing questions from protesters over the scheme at Stanford off the M20 near Hythe.

The meeting will take place at Westenhanger Castle from 7.30pm. Members of the pressure group SOS Kent (Smarter Options than Stanford for Kent) are expected to be there in force.

They will ask the MP questions such as what alternatives have been considered, who will police the site and who will deal with pollution.

Highways England, which is holding a public consultation due to end on Monday, has earmarked two sites, Stanford West, and junction 11 North, which are west and north east of Stanford, for a site for 3,600 lorries.

This is to counter Operation Stack, which had to be implemented for 32 out of 40 days last summer because of disruption caused by striking French ferry workers and illegal immigrants.

SOS Kent, which now has more than 2,000 members, is calling for alternatives such as upgrading the A2 and M2 and providing several smaller lorry parks both there and on the A20 and M20.

The also want the striker and migrant problem to be tackled at source to help prevent further truck build-ups.

Mr Collins, Folkestone and Hythe MP, argued that a lorry park is badly needed to counter the massive disruption of Stack.

He believes that Stanford West is the most suitable as it overlaps the M20 and would prevent the risk of lorries clogging up local roads to reach it.

Shepway District Council and Hythe and New Romney Town Council have also publicly supported the Stanford West option.

SDC says it wants a permanent replacement the for Dover Traffic Access Protocol, a system that controls the flow of lorries into the Port of Dover but causes knock-on delays for cars coming from Folkestone.

To give your views go to the “managing freight vehicles in Kent” page.