Two MPs have hit back at claims they have been “misleading the electorate” over controversial airport reopening plans.

Sir Roger Gale and Craig Mackinlay, representing North and South Thanet, have long been supporters of re-opening Manston airport near Ramsgate but were recently accused by long-standing critic Jenny Dawes after the latest judgment in a series of court rulings.

Earlier this month Mrs Dawes won the right to appeal against a decision not to allow a second judicial review – exploring the legality of the government’s decision to approve a Development Consent Order (DCO) – to stop the site from opening up.

But now, the Conservative MPs Sir Roger (North Thanet) and Mr Mackinlay (South Thanet) have vowed to complain to the Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk over the “legal absurdities of the case”, and have called those against it “self-invested”.

Ms Dawes has - in a rare public statement to the press - accused the pair of misleading their voters, and is urging the government to simply “pull the plug on the entire proposal”.

The 77-year-old said: “Why are they complaining?

“There are very valid questions to answer. The appeal has been granted on the grounds of the need for the airport.

“Reports by aviation experts - and the government’s own Planning Inspectors - already concluded that there is no need for the development.

“If the airport is not needed, then the jobs, the economic benefits and the profits will never happen.

“The political promise of prosperity can’t be delivered.

“Our local MPs are unfairly filling the people of Thanet with false hope.”

The campaigner has crowdfunded £84,000 for her battle against Manston owners RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) which wants to bring flights back to Manston by initially redeveloping the former RAF base as a cargo hub and potential to reintroduce commercial flights in the future.

She added: “Airport owners RSP are not aviation experts. The airport has never worked commercially. It has failed three times and was more profitable as a lorry park than it was in 15 years as an airport.

“Throwing money at something doesn’t make it more viable.

“The investment figures the developers are quoting are absurd. No serious investor would touch this.”

The appeals relate to whether a DCO granted by the Secretary of State for Transport to reopen in 2020 as a cargo hub was lawful.

Ms Dawes and others against the proposals raised questions about whether the need for the airport was correctly assessed and if due consideration was given to what impact the scheme might have on the government’s ability to meet its future carbon reduction targets.

But the Court of Appeal judge in his ruling on February 7 said the climate change element of Ms Dawes’ judicial review challenge was not valid and could only be contested on how the “need” for the airport was evaluated and if it was legal.

The Ramsgate resident added: “Manston Airport closed 10 years ago. Too much time and public money has been wasted on this.

“RSP had an £8.5 million handout from the Dept for Transport for delays that didn't materialise to a development that is not needed. It’s time for the government to pull the plug.

“It’s time for MPs Roger Gale and Craig Mackinlay to stop misleading the electorate and start encouraging more realistic and sustainable investment in the area.

“We’ve already missed a great opportunity for developing Manston.

“Meanwhile, our local green fields, farmland and villages are being lost to government house building quotas.”

The local politicians insist that opening the airport – which shut down in 2014 – will be of benefit to Thanet residents, and are disappointed that Ms Dawes has been granted the right to appeal.

Sir Roger told KentOnline: “Manston Airport has had the overwhelming support of the people of Thanet at every local government, county and general election since the airport closed.

“We have hundreds of millions of job-creating pounds waiting to be invested in a state-of-the-art net-zero carbon facility and the handful of self-interested objectors are merely delaying that investment.

“Manston will re-open to the benefit of Thanet, Kent and the nation.”

In a statement, his Tory colleague Mr Mackinlay added: “I am very disappointed that permission to appeal against the scheme has been granted on one ground, which means there will now be a hearing in the Court of Appeal.

“This latest development is simply another delaying tactic to frustrate the shared desire of RiverOak Strategic Partners and the government, together with local supporters, to see Manston return to operational use as an international freight hub and create employment opportunities in Thanet and beyond.

“Sir Roger Gale is bringing the legal absurdities of this case to the attention of the Lord Chancellor and he has my unalloyed support in doing so.”

It is the latest development in a long-running saga of legal challenges and appeals.

The first judicial review Ms Dawes submitted was upheld and saw the DCO rejected by the High Court because the approval letter issued by the Secretary of State for Transport did not contain enough detail.

But when the plans were resubmitted and approved in August 2022, Ms Dawes launched another legal review.

Her challenge against the 2022 permission was dismissed in January but then partially accepted on appeal in March by another judge.

It was then initially denied again in October last year and Ms Dawes lost her immediate appeal against that ruling but now that challenge has been granted by the Rt Hon Lord Justice Warby.