Plans have been unveiled for a £600 million privately funded tram system linking Essex to north Kent with a new tunnel under the Thames.

The KenEx Thames Transit — the brainchild of financial accountant Gordon Pratt, who previously worked with the London and Southern Counties Railway Consortium — has been designed to relieve pressure on the often congested Lower Thames Crossing, combat air pollution, and boost the economy on both sides of the river.

The plans come as transport links between Essex and Kent remain a keypolitical issue in the Thames Estuary Commission — a blueprint for the Government’s business plans in the two counties.

A controversial new Lower Thames Crossing remains in the pipeline, following the Government’s announcement in the spring of its preferred route.

There is currently a bus service between Bluewater and Lakeside, as well as a ferry between Gravesend and Tilbury, but their combined usage is believed to relieve just 1% of the total traffic using the Dartford Crossing, and campaigners have called for significant improvements to be made.