by Nisha Chopra

A bid to move some freight off Kent's roads and on to high speed trains 24 hours a day is being trialled.

The plans would see the HS1 trains move the freight through the Channel Tunnel.

Trial runs have already begun to see if the system could lighten the load on the motorways and main roads.

But bosses haven't yet identified how much freight would be taken up by the trains, or whether this would cut journey times to and from the county.

Figures from the Department for Transport show more than three quarters of all UK-registered freight vehicles travelled through Dover in 2009.

That figure is even higher for foreign vehicles - at 88 per cent.

If the trials prove successful commercial operations could start later this year, according to the HS1 spokesman Ben Ruse.

He said: "We know there will be healthy demand and we know there's good interest from rail freight operators.

He added: "It's good news taking freight off the roads: it decongests the roads and it's a much greener way to move things around."

But early indications are that the 24-hour trains will not give noise worries to neighbours.

Ben Ruse said: "Noise is something we take very seriously.

"We've been testing for a number of months and haven't received any complaints as of yet, but all that monitoring is part of the testing process."