SECRETARY of State for business Dr Vince Cable made a visit to the London Gateway superport on Tuesday to give his backing to the project and see developments on the site.

Dr Cable told the Gazette how excited he was about the £1.5billion project, saying the biggest coup for Thurrock is the amount of jobs it is going to bring to the area.

He said: “The port is going to have such a positive impact on not only Thurrock, but the country nationally. It is a really positive message for Thurrock with all these new jobs in the area.

“It is an extraordinary engineering project and is going to create jobs for up to 700 people by the end of the year.”

Dr Cable was given a report, published on Tuesday, that sets out how 36,000 new jobs will be created when the project is completed.

He added: “If Britain is to continue its drive to improve productivity and competitivness, this is exactly the kind of infrastructure development we need to foster.

“London Gateway demonstrates the continued confidence the international business community has in the UK.

“The sheer size and scale of the project is staggering. London Gateway will make the UK more attractive to international businesses looking to establish themselves in Europe.”

Dr Cable was accompanied on the visit by London Gateway chief executive Simon Moore and chief executive of UK Trade and Investment Sir Andrew Cahn.

Dr Cable also took a look at the progress of the site in Stanford-le-Hope – 25 per cent of the dredging and new port land has been completed and construction continues 24 hours a day at the site.

Mr Moore said: “The closer ports are situated to the markets, the less we need to transport our goods on our busy road network. It is that simple.

“London Gateway will take the cost out of the supply chain and improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the UK PLC.

“We are creating world class infrastructure for the UK, which will take London back to its global trading hub.”