BUILDING a new airport in north Kent could have a bigger impact on the county than the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, council leaders have warned.

Kent County Council is to conduct a study examining the possible repercussions if the Government decides to build a new four-runway airport on land at Cliffe marshes, in north Kent.

The option is said to be under consideration by the government as a way of easing the pressure on London's existing five airports and to cope with a doubling of air traffic over the next 20 years.

Experts are to be brought in by KCC to weigh up the impact on the county's environment, economy and existing transport system.

The study will also consider what investment would be needed to make the necessary transport links to serve the airport.

However, the county council's Conservative administration has already predicted that Kent would change beyond recognition.

Cllr Alex King, cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: "There is a 'clear and present' danger that a proposal on this scale will have an impact beyond anything we have seen before in both north and east Kent. We will have to be very clear about the implications for Kent - such an airport would change the fact of north Kent for ever."

County council leader Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said Kent would be involved in a project more "far-reaching" than the Channel tunnel.

Analysts have suggested that an airport would create as many as 60,000 jobs - a figure likely to lead to many more people coming into the county to work and possibly live.