SOUTH east MEP Richard Ashworth is calling upon the EU to help Kent foot the bill for a £40million lorry park to cope with Operation Stack.

Mr Ashworth has welcomed KCC’s proposals to build a 70 acre, 3,000-capacity temporary lorry park at Aldington, near Ashford, to alleviate the problems caused each time Stack is implemented on the M20.

He said: “Kent County Council has brought forward bold and imaginative plans that would help reduce the amount of disruption caused to Kent whenever there is a problem in the Channel.

"This is a national problem and so the Kent tax payers must not be forced to foot an unfair share of the bill, particularly considering we already pay an extra burden for problems like asylum.

"I will now contact the EU's Transport Commissioner Barrot asking him to support the plans both politically and financially.”

As the council outlined its plans on Wednesday, Stack remained in place as the SeaFrance strike, in its 14th consecutive day, and bad weather disrupted cross-Channel ferry services.

Police are currently operating phase two of Stack, which sees the closure of junctions 8 (Leeds Castle) to 9 (Ashford West) of the coastbound section of the M20.

The council said the proposed site, used during the contruction of the Channel Tunnel rail link, would also incorporate a permanent lorry park for around 500 HGVs that would be open all year round.

KCC said it wants the government to pay to build the lorry park and to meet running costs through the introduction of a “Brit disc” that would see foreign hauliers paying to use motorways.

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Mr Ashworth said he would work with the European Commission to establish the legality of such a system.

He added: “I have renewed my invitation to the Transport Commissioner to visit Kent to see the plans for himself, and to get a better understanding of the huge inconvenience and problems caused by a lack of investment and inadequate legislation in the south east's transport bottleneck."

A six-week public consultation will be held on the plans, after which KCC, which is in negotiations with the landowner, will put forward a planning application.