by Graham Tutthill and Ruth Banks

Claims that the Port of Dover is being sold to the French have been described as a "total fabrication".

The chief executive of Dover Harbour Board, Bob Goldfield, has denied reports that the owners of the port of Calais are leading the bidding for the port.

In January it was announced that the port intended to privatise, but Mr Goldfield said that they were still in the very early stages of the procedure:

"The actual sales process will not begin until the Secretary of State gives his approval and that is unlikely to be in the next few weeks.

"Our advisors and our Board have not had any conversations with the Port of Calais on this matter and no such conversations are planned or expected."

Earlier this year, Dover Harbour Board announced that it had made a formal application to the Transport Secretary for authority to restructure the organisation in order to introduce private capital.

The restructuring would mean that the port would move fully into the private sector and would no longer be a trust port.

It followed months of speculation that the port would move in this direction.