Ukip leadership contender Suzanne Evans has said that she will take a fresh look at how to reopen Manston as an airport if she wins.

The would-be leader has put herself at odds with the Ukip-led Thanet council, which recently announced it could no longer support the campaign for Manston to be resurrected as a working airport.

A report by consultants commissioned by the authority concluded that a cargo airport would not be viable either in the short or long term.

As a consequence, the council said it could no longer maintain its position of retaining the site for aviation use in its local plan.

That created a storm of protest among supporters of the former airport who accused the party of back-tracking on a key election promise.

The Thanet UKIP council recently announced it was backing Paul Nuttall in the leadership contest to succeed Nigel Farage.

Mrs Evans - regarded as among one of the favourites alongside Paul Nuttall - tweeted that if elected for the job she would be “pushing for a fresh assessment” of Manston.

Mrs Evans did not elaborate on what she would do specifically in relation to Manston and it is difficult to see what she could do in practical terms.

Her intervention comes as it emerged that the Department for Transport has spent £3.5m to date on keeping the Manston site on standby as an emergency relief lorry park in the event Operation Stack is implemented.

The leader of Thanet council has been approached for comment.