The successful bid by Thames means a return to Freeport status for Tilbury, which operated as one from 1984 until 2012.

The Essex town is included in the Freeport corridor at the mouth of the Thames which will be operated by DP World and Forth Ports and key locations also include London Gateway, Ford Dagenham and the Thames Enterprise Park.

Working with the Port of London Authority, Thurrock Council, Barking and Dagenham Council, the South East LEP and the Thames Estuary Growth Board, the Thames team have delivered on their dream of creating a platform to power up growth. The expectation is more than £4.5bn in investment will flow into the region thanks to the decision.

Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports, owner of the Port of Tilbury, said: “This is fantastic news and we are ready to hit the ground running. The freeport builds upon the successful completion of our new port, Tilbury2 and provides the platform for further expansion.

“The freeport policy’s special economic measures will turbocharge the best of the private sector, attracting value add manufacturing activity to the ports, the Thames Estuary and the wider South East, alongside supporting key infrastructure projects in the coming years. The Thames Freeport will be that catalyst to level up the left behind communities along the estuary.”

The Thames bid team pinned their hopes on adhering to six key principles: economic, investment, innovation, environment, regeneration and community with most emphasis being put on the latter. While the rest of the country will look at the South East’s economic power with considerable envy, 20% of the UK’s most deprived communities live in the region.

BUSINESSES located within the freeport zones will benefit from having no tariffs to pay on imports and exports unless they are exported into the UK. Other major benefits include tax breaks, including no stamp duty, full rebates for construction and machinery investment and five years of zero business rates.