A new airport hub on the Isle of Grain would provide 336,000 jobs and contribute £92.1bn to the economy each year by 2050, according to Boris Johnson.

The new figures are the mayor's latest attempt to revive a project that has been vehemently opposed by many in Kent, including Medway Council.

The mayor is also drawing support from a Chamber of Commerce survey which found the airport plan is strongly supported by the Kent business community.

“There is no better example of the stark choice between planning for the future and depressing short-termism," said the Mayor.

"A new hub airport, properly planned, has the potential to reshape the economic geography of London and the whole of the southeast for decades to come.

"It would be a project of a scale we are no longer accustomed to in this country, though it has become commonplace elsewhere.

"We simply cannot afford to miss out on the opportunities a new airport would give us.”

But opponents believe alternative plans, which don't result in the destruction of vital, irreplaceable wetland habitat must take preference.

Full reaction in this week's Medway Messenger.