PLANS for a semi-permanent lorry park to help solve Operation Stack have received a second boost.

The Conservative leader of Kent County Council says the authority will meet all the costs of acquiring the land on which to site a lorry park capable of holding several thousand trucks.

Cllr Paul Carter has also committed the council to meeting the costs of securing planning permission for the park.

The pledge comes just days after the Government announced its own plans to spend nearly £13million on a Quick Moveable Barrier for the M20.

The barrier will be used to implement a contra-flow on the M20 during phase one of Operation Stack, allowing traffic to stay on the motorway rather than be diverted off on to the A20 near Folkestone.

Two possible sites have already been earmarked by county transport chiefs as options for a lorry park but neither has been publicly identified.

Cllr Carter said: "Kent County Council would be prepared to both fund the acquisition of land for a lorry park and to pay for the planning application."

The costs could prove significant, with KCC itself recently estimating that buying the land could cost as much as £20million.

But the news was tempered by a prediction that it will take at least five years for a lorry park to be built.

Howard Holt, the head of corporate affairs at Dover Harbour Board, said: "We are looking at five years to deliver a permanent lorry park. The barrier is an important development but we do need a permanent site."