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A Conservative government could endorse a new generation of coal-fired power stations but only if they were "clean", according to party leader David Cameron.

The issue of the party's energy policy was among the questions posed by members of the public who took the chance to quiz Mr Cameron at a public meeting held in Chatham on Monday night.

Mr Cameron stressed the party currently opposed coal-fired power stations - but told the audience that with an energy gap looming, new ways had to be found to satisfy demand.

If technology was fitted to power stations that allowed carbon capture, then Britain should be "leading the way", he said.

"We have to accept there is a looming energy gap developing in our country because North Sea gas is running down and the nuclear power stations are coming to the end of their life, yet energy demand continues to grow," he said.

"Our view is that they should not build new coal-fired power stations unless they are fitted with experimental technology for carbon capture and storage [and] to make sure the technology works."

But he added: "It is exciting technology because it may be that if you can get that technology working, you can have coal-fired power stations that are clean. In Britain, we should be leading the way on this.

"One of the difficulties with capturing carbon and storing it is where you put it. In the North Sea, the depleted North Sea gas fields are the perfect place to put it and indeed pumping it into those fields may help you to recover more gas and oil out of them."

Mr Cameron, who fielded questions on a range of subjects during an hour-long meeting including knife crime and immigration, also appeared lukewarm about the idea of an island airport off Sheppey.

Although he declined to rule out the idea, he said extending existing capacity at regional airports and building a high speed rail link to cities like Leeds and Birmingham were the answer.

"Boris does not have the power to build a new aiport. What Boris is doing is having an investigation as to whether such a thing would be possible.

"But in my view the right answer is not to have a third runway at Heathrow but to have High Speed rail link that basically shrinks the size of or country."

The meeting was the first of a series being held across the country under a campaign dubbed 'Camerondirect' in which the leader will stage public meetings across the UK.

About 250 people attended the meeting, which was held at the Church of Christ The King.