Plans to use stretches of the M20 as a holding area for lorries and to allow some lanes to remain open for other traffic are likely to be among new options to deal with Operation Stack.

And a more radical proposal that could involve parking lorries on the ‘fast’ lane of the M20 has also been under debate, KentOnline has been told.

Highways England is expected to set out options for dealing with Operation Stack within the next few weeks.

It was instructed to come up with contingency plans after the government was forced to abandon a controversial plan for a huge lorry park off the M20 at Stanford near Folkestone.

It did so before a judicial review into the proposal was due to be heard.

It is also searching for an alternative site for a lorry park.

Sources say work on strengthening the hard shoulder on the M20 coast-bound between junctions eight and nine is expected to get under way later this month.

KCC says it has been told nothing about the options coming forward but has already expressed reservations over any plan that would involve trying to keep non-HGV traffic on the motorway at the same time as using it to park lorries.

Speaking on a visit to Ashford this week, transport secretary Chris Grayling insisted any solutions kept Kent traffic moving in both directions along the M20.

“It is really important that we keep the motorway open in both directions on an interim basis and then we will work through longer term solutions," he said.

“We have got two challenges that we are sorting out: one is to make sure we are ready for Brexit Day next year but I am very clear that we are [also] pursuing plans for a lorry park.

"I regret that environmental laws have made it more difficult for us to proceed at the speed he wanted."

Asked when the interim plans would be revealed, he said: “We are doing the necessary consultation work on that and we are having to do the necessary environmental assessments. But we will have interim solutions in place for 2019 which I hope won't be necessary because we will have a sensible free trade agreement.”

A source told KentOnline that the option of using the fast lane on the M20 as a holding area was strongly resisted by the county council.

At the time the government announced it was dropping the lorry park plan, Mr Grayling said the government would be "reassessing the scope, scale and location of our solutions" to Operation Stack.