Work is underway to develop a detailed bid for a new freeport on the east coast.

Public and private sector leaders have set out a joint vision after the government published a prospectus outlining requirements for successful bids for freeport designation.

Freeport East would focus on the Port of Felixstowe and Harwich International Port – owned by Hutchison Ports.

Freeports will be created to help drive post-Brexit growth and will benefit from tax reliefs, simplified customs procedures, streamlined planning and wider government support.

Clemence Cheng, managing director of Hutchison Ports Europe, said the combination of Felixstowe and Harwich offered the UK a unique opportunity in the post-Brexit world, sitting as they do at the main junction point between the UK’s principal trade route to and from the Far East and key freight links to and from northern Europe.

Detailed plans will be set out in a formal bid document.