NEW designs showing a prospective Thames estuary airport have been met with anger by Thurrock Council.

Plans for £42billion 'Boris Island', as it has been dubbed, were revealed yesterday by consortium Testrad at the House of Lords and the leader of the council says he is '100 per cent confident' the authority will be able to provide common sense arguments the idea should be put 'in the recycling bin.'

Cllr John Kent said: "Looking at what’s been published shows that these developers have no concept of the chaos they will cause and have put absolutely no feelings whatsoever for the people of south Essex and north Kent in general and Thurrock in particular.

“They claim their proposal will prevent the ‘demolition of houses, removal of green field sites, bird strikes, acquisition of private land and demolition of industrial infrastructure’.

“I ask how? If the airport was to be built it will need roads and railways between it and London – I struggle to see how that can be done without demolishing homes and it would certainly mean driving motorways through the green belt.

“I simply cannot understand how it will eliminate bird strikes in an estuary that is chock full of waterfowl – unless water birds don’t count.”

Mr Kent went on to criticise the noise, pollution and congestion an airport would bring and poured scorn on the theory the airport could be built in the next seven years.

“Forget HS2, we’ve had experience of the Channel Tunnel rail link – that took decades – and currently the government is sitting on a £2 billion decision about a Thames crossing that we know, even if they can make a decision today, won’t happen for ten years.

“As I said, we’ll look very closely at the proposals, then we’ll talk with our neighbours, and then we’ll make sure those plans are put exactly where they deserve to be. In the recycling bin.”