A campaigner has launched a second bid to ground plans to reopen Manston Airport.

Ramsgate resident Jenny Dawes has applied for a judicial review of the decision to allow the Thanet site to be transformed into a cargo hub.

The move means last month's decision to green-light the multi-million-pound scheme will be reassessed by a High Court judge.

But bosses from RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) hope the review will be dealt with swiftly to pave the way for them to start preliminary work by Christmas.

Ms Dawes, whose legal team filed its 1,200-page appeal yesterday, reasoned: "Developing Manston Airport will cause irreparable harm to the people, environment and the economy of east Kent."

The government originally granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) - against the recommendation of the Planning Inspectorate - two years ago, which appeared to pave the way for the RSP-owned site to reopen.

But in February last year, it was officially quashed by the High Court, following a judicial review launched by Ms Dawes

Then in October last year, an independent aviation assessor concluded there was no need for a new freight airport at the site.

Despite this, the Department for Transport confirmed in August its DCO had been granted.

If the judge feels the concerns raised by Ms Dawes in her latest appeal have merit, the case could be heard by the High Court.

It would then decide whether to quash the DCO, forcing the Department for Transport to submit another.

Ms Dawes crowd-funded £119,000 to pay for the legal costs arising from the 2020 judicial review, and is hoping to generate £50,000 in donations on this occasion.

She added: "The money we raised last time was used to pay solicitors, barristers, consultants and court costs in what turned out to be a long and complicated case."

RSP says surveys, detailed master planning and design work are still set to commence in the next few weeks.

It adds construction will begin later next year, with the airport operating its first cargo services in early 2025.

Responding to Ms Dawes's second legal challenge, Tony Freudmann, a director at RiverOak, said: "The reality is we have a DCO decision by the Secretary of State which took 17 months to prepare."

He says if there is a judicial review hearing in the High Court, the development could be delayed by "a few months".

"It is a very carefully considered and measured document," he said.

"We think that people who want to know more about what is going on should read the decision which is available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

"It’s a 65-page document and all of the true facts are there.

"It’s significant the opponents of the airport never made reference to the jobs that are going to be created and the significant boost it will give to the local economy, which it is in desperate need of.

"We, and I’m sure the Department for Transport, will be filing our response to the application for judicial review and we hope the process will be swift this time.

"They filed the proceedings yesterday and we are an interested party and the Secretary of State has 21 days in which to file our response."