A lorry park costing £100 million could be created on the M20 corridor as a solution to Operation Stack.

This would be an alternative from using Manston Airport and diverting traffic on a 50-mile diversion from the M20, seeing lorries driving through Eastry, Sandwich and into Thanet.

MPs in Kent met with Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in Westminster on Wednesday (yesterday) to discuss these plans.

It would require land acquisition and additional road infrastructure and is also beyond the budget of Kent County Council, which will mean asking the government for funding.

Craig Mackinlay, MP for South Thanet said: “We were pleased to secure a meeting to present and discuss with the Chancellor a fully workable and permanent plan to solve Operation Stack. With the comprehensive spending review imminent this was the right time to advance a major capital investment to the treasury. This investment is not just needed by Kent, it is needed by the country.”

There has been some relief from Operation Stack since the summer but the threat of gridlock still remains due to strike action or migrants trying to enter the UK, in the future.

Operation Stack can have a devastating effect on Kent businesses and residents, says Mr Mackinlay and is costing the economy millions.

The Freight Transport Association estimates the daily cost to its members to be £700,000 per day, and the daily cost to the country to be £250m.

Sir Roger Gale, MP for North Thanet said: “If accepted it will take time to build and implement but would remove the madcap scheme of using Manston airport as a lorry park from the equation.”

Dover and Deal MP, Charlie Elphicke said: "We need a long term solution to Operation Stack. The summer chaos cost Britain £1 billion and brought the whole of Kent to a standstill. We cannot have that happen again. This is why we went to see the Chancellor to press the case for Kent and for England.

“Building a lorry park on the M20 is the obvious and most practical long term solution.

“Working in tandem with the Dover TAP system and an advance check in system would be most effective. Lorries would not be able to plough into Dover whether the Port is ready to receive them or not. A lorry park would prevent the sort of disruption we saw on our roads over the summer.”

The Manston plan has been criticised by MPs who say it will have an effect on the everyday lives of residents.

Particularly in Sandwich, where residents have campaigned to rid the historic town of HGVs which can cause damage to medieval buildings and get stuck in the narrow streets.

The comprehensive spending review is due to be released soon.