Wading birds are already flocking to a new wildlife habitat that has been created on the Thames.

The intertidal area, consisting of 59 hectares of mudflat and six hectares of saltmarsh, was funded by DP World London Gateway as compensation for habitat lost during construction of the deep-sea terminal in Thurrock.

The wetlands, which are the size of 82 football pitches, were created by the largest ever controlled breach of a flood wall in the UK. A new 2.4km-long sea wall was built, inland of the existing one, before that was breached along a 700m section to enable the land to flood with the tide.

Hundreds of members of the local community – including pupils from Hathaway Academy in Grays, residents of Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope, and visitors to the recent Estuary 2016 festival – voted to call the site Salt Fleet Flats Reserve. The name is derived from the name of a watercourse located just south of the site, near Cooling, in Kent.

Rachael Jones, environment manager at DP World London Gateway, said: “The completion of this important project has been a great effort by all involved.

“The new wetland habitat is already attracting wading birds and we will be monitoring how it develops and establishes over time.

“We are looking forward to seeing how the site is used during the overwintering bird season and the first fish surveys will start next month.”

Steve Bewers, project manager at the Environment Agency, which also contributed financially to the project, said DP World had gone above and beyond the call of duty.

He said: “More habitat has been created than was required by DP World to compensate for losses that were predicted to arise through the creation of the port.”

The mudflat is the second DP World has created on the Thames, after completing the RSPB’s Stanford Wharf Nature Reserve in 2010.