Opponents of plans for a huge lorry park off the M20 to deal with Operation Stack have threatened to go to court to halt it.

Formal consultation on the design of the £250m scheme comes to an end this week in what will mark an important stage in the progress of the plan.

Highways England plans to begin work on the Stanford site, which would be capable of holding 3,600 lorries, in time for part of it come into operation next year.

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Any legal tussle is likely to disrupt the timetable, but Stanford Parish Council says it will press ahead with court action provided it can fund it.

Matthew Webb, council chairman, said a legal challenge would focus on the process of consultation rather than the actual plan.

“Having consulted with our legal counsel, Stanford Parish council believes there are two issues to raise through a Judicial Review.

"One is that this development should have been subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, which Highways England has not done.

"Second, this development should be seen as a significant development that requires a Development Consent Order to go ahead.”

He added: “Within our parish, I cannot think of one individual who has expressed support for the park so I can say quite confidently that the parish council is acting in the interests of the whole community.

“We are not NIMBYs - we already have a lorry park in our parish. Our principal objection is that this will not work.

"It is clear from the consultation that the plans are not finalised and would actually cause further potential delays if Operation Stack was in operation.

“One of the great reasons for the lorry park is the impact on the economy.

"Some people have claimed that the impact to the UK economy of £250m a day - that is clearly rubbish.

"If the UK impact was £250m a day, there would have been an awful lot of firms going out of business and we would have heard about it in the news.

“Even if it was true, this development would not move one lorry one inch to where it was supposed to get to or one second quicker.

"So, the benefits or perceived benefits to an improvement to the economy are zero. We are just sweeping the queue under the carpet.”

However, local MPs, Kent County Council, Shepway council and hauliers have broadly welcomed the project with KCC arguing that it should also be used as an overnight park for HGVs throughout the year.

The proposed site is west of the M20 junction 11 at Stanford West. New entry and exit slip roads will also be built on the eastbound stretch of the M20.

Balfour Beatty has already been appointed as the lead contractor for the project.