The Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson visited London Gateway's port construction site to mark the start of work on one of the UK's largest infrastructure projects.

DP World is behind the £1.5 billion development, which will be Europe's largest combined deep-sea port and logistics park.

Situated on the north bank of the River Thames near Thurrock in Essex, the 1,500-acre site is the same size as two Cities of London. It will give unrivalled deep-sea shipping access and transform the movement of freight around the UK, reducing road haulage and cutting CO2 emissions.

Mr Brown said: "The London Gateway is a significant foreign investment into the UK. It is a massive vote of confidence in the UK's economic recovery and in this region. UK Trade & Investment and other Government departments have worked closely with DP World over a number of years to make this project possible.

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"I am delighted with the decision to locate this world-class project here in the UK. It will help bring the largest deep sea vessels here and improve the efficiency of the UK's freight distribution, creating thousands of jobs, future growth and economic prosperity."

According to an independent survey commissioned by DP World, the development will generate 36,000 jobs in total, including 12,000 jobs in logistics and construction that will be created in the short term.

On completion, the London Gateway will link road, rail and sea. The company estimates it will save over 60 million HGV miles per year - equal to about 2,000 truck movements per day on the nation’s roads. This will amount to a reduction of 148,000 tonnes per annum of CO2 emissions. With the London Gateway acting as a hub, containers can be sent via smaller ships to other ports around the UK.

The Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government both contributed to the project.

(CD/GK)