The Chief Constable came under pressure from the leader of Kent County Council to use Manston Airport to relieve Operation Stack despite his reservations, an MP has claimed.

Veteran Kent MP Sir Roger Gale, who represents North Thanet, says his fellow Tory Paul Carter issued a thinly-veiled threat to Kent Police boss Alan Pughsley at the height of the crisis.

In an email sent at 6.51pm on July 9, Mr Carter tells Mr Pughsley he had been on the radio earlier in the day and had floated the idea of using Manston Airport, also known as Stone Hill Park, as an emergency lorry park to ease the pressure on the M20.

It goes on: “You have now done some work with your team and you feel the logistics of Stone Hill Park are challenging and probably make it a non starter.

“I would urge your team to do further work as I believe that Stone Hill Park has enormous potential for Dover-bound HGVs and good connectivity by road.

“The owners of Stone Hill Park are willing to co-operate.

“If you determine it is a definite no, the detailed reasons behind your decision need to be explained to the public.”

The email from Mr Carter also floats the idea of allowing local traffic to use the hard shoulder of the M20 with a 40mph limit and the slow lane acting as a buffer.

The Department of Transport confirmed that Manston would be used for Operation Stack on August 4.

Sir Roger is furious Mr Carter ignored a suggestion by the Port of Dover to send Dover-bound traffic down the M2/A2 to Whitfield, divert it along the A256 dual carriageway towards Sandwich and then double back at the first roundabout creating two miles of stacking space.

Sir Roger said: “Carter’s position as leader of the county council is becoming increasingly untenable.

“It is appears from this correspondence that while ignoring sensible and low-cost proposals put forward by the Port of Dover, Carter has sought to bring pressure on the Chief Constable, through a thinly-veiled threat, to reverse his professional opinion and to instead tacitly endorse a proposal for the resolution of Operation Stack that is costly and impracticable.

“I do not believe that the people of east Kent now have confidence in his tenure of office.”

Kent County Council say they have always been determined to get traffic moving.

Spokesman Murray Evans said: “The email followed a conversation with the Chief Constable at a social event the previous day when he and Mr Carter discussed the idea of using Manston for the relief of Operation Stack, which had been suggested by a number of individuals.

“The original suggestion did not come from Mr Carter, but he felt it was worth pursuing.

“KCC’s priority has always been the need to try to keep the Queen’s highway – in this case the M20 - open for traffic, and Mr Carter felt Manston might offer a short-term answer to this issue while a long-term solution was sought.

“I am confident that a permanent solution to the current Operation Stack will be in place during 2016..." - Chief Constable Alan Pughsley

“Discussions progressed and on August 4 the Department for Transport released a statement to the effect that agreement had been reached with the owners of Manston airfield to enable Kent Police, Highways England and KCC to use the airfield temporarily to help reduce pressure on the M20 during Operation Stack.”

The police say they are now committed to the Department of Transport plan to use Manston as a holding area for freight traffic bound for the port when Operation Stack is in place.

Mr Pughsley said: “Using Manston as a short-term solution for holding freight, while extremely challenging, was the most feasible option, and was only made possible as a result of the additional support from the Department for Transport and Highways England.

“Working with more resources than ever before, including mutual aid from other police forces, Highways England and other agencies, we are all committed to making the plan from the Department for Transport work, to ease the situation caused previously on the M20, which affected many communities in Kent.

“I am confident that a permanent solution to the current Operation Stack will be in place during 2016, and while the police continue to advise on those options, the decision will be made by the Department for Transport and Highways England.”