The Prime Minister has signalled more money will need to be spent dealing with the economic damage caused to Kent by Operation Stack.

David Cameron said he knows the £3 million the government pledged last month to find solutions to the disruption caused by the measure is “not going to be enough”.

Speaking on a recent visit to Chatham, he said he accepted “Kent pays the price” when lorries are parked on the M20 during disruption at the Channel Tunnel or Port of Dover.

The government is holding a review on Operation Stack in addition to the £3m it will spend on investigating new lorry parking capacity in the M20 corridor, easing congestion and tackling Operation Stack.

Mr Cameron said: “I know that is not going to be enough because Stack can stack all the way up the motorways, which is why we are holding this review and will look at all the options it comes up with.

“I know from friends and others what a problem this can be. Kent pays the price – that’s the point. I get that.”

Mr Cameron was pressed earlier this month about the issue by Dover MP Charlie Elphicke during Prime Minister’s Questions.

He did not rule out using money from a new government charge on HGVs coming into the UK from the continent to pay for new lorry parks and other schemes.

Mr Cameron said: “We have put the £3m in, we will have the review and I have said to Charlie if there are sensible things coming out of the review we will act on them.”

The Operation Stack investment comes after Kent County Council announced it was eyeing a site at Westenhanger, Folkestone, for a lorry park for 1,500 to 3,000 HGVs, as well as developing a series of smaller lorry parks that would be open round the clock.

Under the plans, up to three lorry parks could be built at sites close to Dover.

Each would be operated as round-the-clock service stations but have capacity to park several hundred lorries when Operation Stack was implemented.

Long-standing plans for a large lorry park off the M20 near Ashford, first mooted by KCC 10 years ago, were scrapped last year.

The £3m pledged so far is part of the Local Growth Fund, allocated through the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which has agreed an expansion to its Growth Deal with the government.

Kent has received a £19.4m share of an extra £46.1m to be invested in the South East between 2016 and 2021.

The money will also be used to:

• improve signalling at Ashford International railway station to help secure international rail services at Ashford and up to 2,000 jobs;
• build a mixed-use redevelopment of Folkestone seafront to provide up to 500 jobs, 300 homes, improved leisure facilities and public realm;
• grow the advanced manufacturing sector by helping to create up to 300 jobs and build an innovation space at Rochester Airport.

Simulation games publisher Dovetail Games was described as “a crucial part of our long term economic plan” when they hosted David Cameron on his visit to Medway.

It came as the Prime Minister unveiled a new Help to Grow scheme, which will help 500 of the UK’s fastest growing companies to expand by guaranteeing business loans.

Mr Cameron said: “Here is a business that six years ago employed eight people and now employs 98.

“It is growing by about a third every year and wants to stay right here in Medway and continue its expansion and success.

“But too many fast-growing businesses still find it hard to access finance, particularly those wanting to take that next step to becoming a medium-sized business.

“That’s why today I’m announcing the British Business Bank will start a pilot scheme at the Budget with at least £100 million of new lending and help us grow our businesses and create jobs.”

Chatham-based Dovetail Games, which traded as RailSimulator.com until 2013, produced and markets the Train Simulator game and launched its first flight product last year.

Chief executive Paul Jackson, who picked up the trophy for Medway Business of the Year in November, said: “It was a huge honour to welcome the Prime Minister to our office.

"Dovetail’s team has grown more than tenfold since we opened our doors in 2009, and is precisely the kind of organisation which will be able to benefit from the new scheme, so we can continue to expand and contribute to the regeneration of the Medway towns.”