THE Kent Messenger Group has launched an online petition to stop Operation Stack.

We believe the county should no longer be prepared to put up with the widespread disruption caused every time poor weather disrupts ferry sailings, or French workers go on strike.

Cllr Paul Carter (Con), the leader of Kent County Council, has already acknowledged that an alternative to Operation Stack must be found.

By signing our online petition, you can help put pressure on the Government to help KCC to find a solution.Go to www.kentonline.co.uk/stopstack

In a joint statement senior editors Leo Whitlock and Bob Bounds said: "It’s time that our readers and online viewers made their voices heard.

“The endless queues and hours sat in jams caused by the bad weather and striking French unions cannot go on.

“We realise there is no easy answer but Stack is a crude and cumbersome way of dealing the lorry log jam.”

The county council has also started an online petition aimed at persuading ministers that an alternative must be found to the M20 closures which cause chaos for thousands of motorists.

You can sign the county council's End Stack Now petition on KCC’s website at www.kent.gov.uk/news

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), KCC cabinet member for highways, said: “Kent has borne the impact of cross-Channel freight traffic for too long. The problem will only get worse as traffic increases."

KCC says it supports proposals for a moveable barrier as a short-term measure.

This would allow two-way traffic on the London-bound carriageway between junctions 11 and 12, with lorries parked on the coastbound carriageway.

However, in the long term KCC says the Government must fund a permanent lorry park for at least 2,000 vehicles.

Ashford Borough Council leader Cllr Paul Clokie said: “Operation Stack has a negative impact on perceptions of Kent as a location for business and investment and we need to tackle that.”

Dover District Council leader Cllr Paul Watkins added: “Dover is really beginning to pick up economically, but we need access at all times and turning the M20 into a lorry park is not helpful.”

Maidstone Borough Council leader Cllr Eric Hotson said: “It is quite wrong that the economy of Kent is paralysed several times a year by the Government’s unwillingness to find a proper solution to Operation Stack.”