A SOUTH Essex MP has hit out at the Government over plans for a new Thames crossing which he claims will cause chaos.

Stephen Metcalfe, Tory MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, was speaking at a Commons debate on the proposals, as the Government decides on where to place the crossing.

Highways England has announced its preferred route, option C linking the M2 with the M25 via the A13 near Gravesend.

Mr Metcalfe insists the proposal will not work and is too close to the Dartford Crossing, which is operating beyond its capacity.

He said: “Option C will not work and will fail to tackle congestion at Dartford, should the ‘road to nowhere’, as it has been described, get the go-ahead.

“I want to state from the outset that although I fundamentally oppose option C, that is not just because it would go through my constituency.

“It is because I do not believe that it would solve the problem.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation opportunity, so anything less than solving the problem where it actually is would be, in my opinion, a lost opportunity.

Mr Metcalfe continued: “We need to finish the M25. Anything else will be a waste or a mistake. It never got finished in the first place.”

For more information on the plans, visit lower-thames-crossing.co.uk