Britain’s second most popular sailing area – after the Solent – is under threat of being covered in concrete as London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, battles on with his plans for Heathrow-on-Sea.

Oil-rich sheikhs from Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are reported to be interested in investing £40 billion in Johnson’s dream to replace the UK’s major airport with runways in the Thames Estuary.

Deputy Mayor, Kit Malthouse, said the new 24-hours-a-day airport could be up and running within 10 years and plans show it would dwarf the area now occupied by Heathrow. A feasibility plan – to be published soon – will include two artificial islands holding six runways linked to terminals on the mainland by tunnels, and bridges.

Shuttle trains would carry passengers onto the existing, over-congested commuter rail-lines running from Shoeburyness, and Southend-on-Sea to London’s Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street and from Minster and Sittingbourne to St Pancras.

The areas under threat include the Rivers Roach, Crouch, Thames, Swale and Medway as well as rare wetlands in Kent and Essex. Read Dick Durham’s blog