THURROCK MP’s met with David Cameron today to raise their concerns over the options available for the Lower Thames Crossing.

Stephen Metcalfe, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, and Jackie Doyle-Price, MP for Thurrock, were joined by MP’s from Kent for the meeting.

The MP’s wanted to share their concerns with the Prime Minister about the impact the current proposed options would have on the local area.

Option A and Option C are currently are two under consideration, neither of which are hugely supported by the MP’s.

Option A would see another crossing built next to the current Dartford-Thurrock crossing and Option C would land between Coalhouse and Tilbury forts and travel north towards the Orsett Cock junction of the A13, before meeting the M25 between junctions 29 and 30.

Mr Metcalfe said after the meeting: “It was a constructive meeting, during which the Prime Minister listened carefully to the arguments and agreed to talk to both the Chancellor and the Minister responsible about our various points.”

“While the five of us do not necessarily agree about the problems with Options A and C, we do agree that there are wider considerations such as pushing the problem of congestion elsewhere and promoting growth that need to be looked at.”

The group told Mr Cameron that the current options were designed to address a question posed a decade ago to relieve congestion at the existing crossing.

They added they thought neither option maximised the huge growth potential that exists in South Essex or Kent.

Ms Doyle -Price said: “I emphasised that the current options would simply put more traffic on the A13 and the M25.

“The Prime Minister is fully aware of the problems caused by gridlock at the Dartford crossing and the need for a new Lower Thames crossing must alleviate that congestion.

“We were able to make the case for looking again at options D and E which would facilitate the construction of a new outer ring to complement the M25."