A Kent-based construction firm landed a £400million contract for the first phase of a giant container port that will create thousands of jobs.

London Gateway - on the old Shell Haven oil refinery site at Stanford-le-Hope, Essex - will eventually employ around 12,000 people, many of them from the county. There will be many more jobs during construction.

The first phase of the project will be carried out by Laing O’Rourke, which has its head office at Bridge Place, Crossways, Dartford, in a joint venture with Belgian firm Dredging International.

It involves the construction of three berths and a 1.2 kilometre quay for site owner Dubai-based DP World.

It is the first major contract to be awarded in the overall £1.5billion project scheduled to be built over the next 10 to 15 years.

London Gateway is the UK's first deep sea container port for more than 25 years and will handle an estimated 3.5 million containers a year.

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