A bright future with 220 new jobs is planned for the former Sheerness steel works - and Kent Online readers can help.

Peel Ports has already spent £50 million reclaiming the 50-acre derelict site. Most of the money has gone on demolishing the former giant 32m-high melt shop at Blue Town and making the contaminated land safe to store a further 75,000 imported vehicles a year.

The port already imports 400,000 cars a year.

The next stage will include pulling down the final piece of the building and constructing a £3 million road bridge over the Brielle Way to link the former mill with the docks. Work by Hague Construction is to start next month.

The foundations for the 230m-long and 6.5m-high bridge are already in place. But port bosses now want the public to help name it.

Port director Paul Barker, 55, said: “As part of our engagement with local community we are encouraging people to submit their suggestions for a name for the new bridge.”

The bridge is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Mr Barker said: “This will pave the way for construction work at Wellmarsh to start. It will breathe new life into a site which has lain derelict for four years.

"It will also allow us to reconfirm our commitment to the future of the region by creating new jobs and investment opportunities.”

"Now we want to give the community a chance to put its stamp on the development by suggesting names for the new bridge which will become a focus of a new logistics hub.

“We look forward to turning our plans into a reality and seeing the transformation of Sheerness as a leading deep-water gateway into Europe over the next few years.”

The new site will be used to store and handle cars, steel, wood and paper.

The Wellmarsh site has been unused since the steel mill closed in 2013.

The investment is expected to create 220 jobs in addition to the 1,640 jobs the port already supports. It is estimated the port generates up to £83 million for the area year.

Members of the public can submit suggestions online at www.peelports.com/sheernessbridge. The top entries will be put to a public vote later in the year. Winning entries will be invited to open the new bridge.