Thanet Council has been asked to look again at its decision not to pursue a compulsory purchase of Manston Airport.

A cross-party group has formally recommended that the authority’s Labour-run cabinet review its decision - once the Department for Transport has examined papers and reports around the issue.

The move came just days after council planners appeared to leave the door open to the idea that Manston could be revived as an airport after its closure last May.

Council leader Iris Johnston and senior officers appeared before the council’s scrutiny committee on Tuesday to answer questions about the decision not to go ahead with a CPO.

Councillors on the committee raised a number of concerns about the cabinet decision taken in December and queried why the council had made the decision without seeing key documentation.

Cllr Bob Bayford, Conservative opposition group leader, said: “When the Department for Transport comes back to us, we have asked the cabinet to look again [at the decision].

"We were trying to get to the bottom of the decision-making process.

"We felt the council did not measure a American private equity company in the same way as you might expect due diligence on a UK company.”

Thanet council was asked for a comment but has yet to respond.