The leader of Shepway council has poured scorn on a renewed call for a lorry park on a site at Westenhanger, saying he will fight it “every inch of the way.”

Cllr David Monk underlined his opposition to the idea as part of a solution to the disruption caused by Operation Stack after county council leader Paul Carter said it remained an option.

Mr Monk, who has previously described the idea as “bonkers”, said the solution was not to allow “tonnes of concrete” to be dumped on the suggested site.

“We will fight them every inch of the way. There has to be a national solution and we have to get lorries stopped at other service stations before they get to Kent - not to dump tonnes of concrete on us,” he said.

Shepway council was already drawing up plans to develop the site for “high-end” businesses, he added.

“Shepway’s economic future has one place to go and that is to develop the site for businesses and we are doing that now with money we have got from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.”

KCC leader Cllr Carter said the Westenhanger site should be considered as an option while accepting it was contentious.

“It is a bit contentious with the council but I think it's ideally suited to give capacity for 1,500 to 2,000 lorries.”

Meanwhile, there are growing calls for the Manston airport site to be considered as a temporary holding area for lorries when Operation Stack is in place.

Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins said: “We should look at the viability of using land at locations like Manston Airport and the county showground at Detling when available to provide temporary emergency relief.”

Cllr Carter said he had discussed the idea of using Manston with Kent chief constable Alan Pughsley, who planned to take up the idea with the site’s owners.