A campaigner who lives in the shadow of a growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant has called new evacuation plans a "joke".

We reported last week that grandfather Jack Hope, 54, feared neighbours on the Isle of Grain would have no escape route if disaster struck at the £1 billion Grain LNG depot.

His fears were confirmed, he says, when Medway Council released its updated emergency plan last week – three years in the making.

Much of the plan has not been made public for national security reasons, and the rest of it makes no suggestion for a multimillion-pound escape road, which Mr Hope and others in the village want.

He and parish councillor Michael Dale believe a road to Allhallows-on-Sea is needed to stop villagers getting trapped in case of an explosion.

The plan says the "urgent" closure of the road leaving Grain – which passes yards from gas tanks the size of the Albert Hall – would be down to retained firefighters in Grain village.

However, retained firefighters are moving to part-time contracts where they will not always be on call.

The plan adds: "The nature of an incident is such that, until the gas has an ignition source, it may not be seen or smelt. It is therefore important that people and vehicles do not enter the potential hazard area.

"Telephone communications with Grain village could potentially be vulnerable as they follow the roadway between the hazardous installations. If landlines are rendered inoperable there are several alternate methods for communication."

The plan suggests boats or the air ambulance could be mobilised if villagers were trapped, but Mr Hope said: "It is a total joke. I don’t feel like it answers anything.

"If they can assure us we have a safe way out we will leave them alone. Until then I’m going to keep asking questions."

Mr Hope first raised his concerns earlier this year and started a Facebook group which now has almost 300 members.

He is planning to hold a meeting in Grain Village Hall from 7.30pm on July 21.

Fifty villagers attended a parish council meeting last month where Cllr Dale, who has pushed for an escape road for three years, voiced his fears.

The retired policeman, 71, revealed he knew about the problems but had kept quiet because he feared house prices would drop.

The Grain site is a few hundred yards from a BP oil terminal, and both were a few miles from a huge oil blaze at the Kingsnorth Industrial Estate last month.

Medway Council said forming the new plan had raised no concerns for public safety.

A spokesman added: "Mr Hope has contacted the council on a number of occasions asking them to buy his house and to pay him compensation due to his incorrect concern that there is no emergency plan for the Isle of Grain.

"The council has stated that it will not buy his house and there is an emergency off site plan for the area that has been drawn up by the council in consultation with other organisations including the LNG site operator and the emergency services."

National Grid bosses and the Health and Safety Executive also stress the site was safe.

MP Mark Reckless has taken up the villagers’ concerns with bosses at Grain LNG, owned by the National Grid.