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A new truck park opening near the Port of Dover with space for 100 lorries is also offering customers trans-shipment and storage facilities for freight coming in and out of the country. Neal Williams, managing director of Priority Freight, says the 3.5-acre park next to the A2 - which has an American-style licensed diner, washing facilities and £70,000 of high-tech security - should open for business in December.

Williams hopes the  lorry park will be seen as an essential "staging post" for British and Continental operators coming in and out of the port - and he is offering his company's services as a value-added measure to entice business. The boss of the international transport and freight-forwarding company says operators have been asking him for some time to relinquish some of his land for parking and he thinks the figures now stack up.

"The bank is happy to support it and it isn't going to lend any money to anyone at the moment if it isn't confident in what's going on," he says. "We don't need all of the land for our operation. There just aren't adequate facilities in the Dover area. Obviously Ashford is providing a good service for people taking the M20 route, but it's still half an hour from the port and 20 minutes from the tunnel."

Williams adds: "If a truck has got a port load destined for the West Country or the North, or another destination, we can offer a competitive transport service or  short-term storage. Richard Welch, general manager at Ashford International Truckstop, wishes Williams success: "There's plenty of the cake to take and share," he says. "Whether it's the right location along the A2 I'm not sure, but more are needed in Kent."