Plans for an island airport to replace Heathrow have been slammed by the leader of Kent County Council.

Cllr Paul Carter (Con) said the proposal for an airport off Sheppey, mooted by London Mayor Boris Johnson, was a non-starter and that developing Manston airport in Thanet was the way to address the issue of capacity.

“It is the wrong idea in the wrong place. There is a massive opportunity at Manston, which could deal with between six and seven million passengers - enough, I believe, to deliver the kind of capacity will be needed with the plateau in air travel I suggest is likely.”

He denied the location of Thanet’s Kent International Airport militated against its development as a significant regional airport, saying the prospect of high-speed domestic rail services along the Channel Tunnel rail link, along with a third Thames crossing, would provide the necessary 'connectivity’.

Mayor Johnson said: “If you look at what is going on in other countries around the world –in Hong Kong, in Washington – it’s not impossible to move the capital’s biggest airport.”